We Call This 'Life'
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: "I survived, yes, but living is a different matter, and I can't solve it. So I work instead, just going through each day one at a time, because I at least know how to do that. And perhaps in the meantime I'll figure out how it is I live." Major AU. Sequel to 'Choice'. Kirigiri-centric, epilogue-style with some drabble, rated T to be safe, though I might change this.
1. Part 1

**This WAS going to be a oneshot, but it went _way_ out of control and I realised that even with my standards, I have limits too. Which is saying something, because you probably know by now I have a tendency to write really long oneshots. But yeah. So now this is a two-parter. **

**Anyway, this is the sequel to 'Choice', which I promised was going to be a thing. I recommend you read that first if you haven't already, so that you have some idea of the context of this AU. I was just going to wait until I'd finished the second part of this and publish them together, but this part has been finished for a few days now, and I'm procrastinating as a way of killing time and nervousness (I have a presentation at uni this afternoon, and I'll be rehearsing it with some classmates before that), so yeah, have an earlier-than-planned upload. Consider it an early Christmas present to the fandom.**

 **One last thing-there is a crackpairing/rarepair in this fic. I don't know which category it would fall into, because it's specifically for this AU only, and I have tried to develop it seriously, and so I quite like it now, but again quite literally _only for this AU_ , especially as both characters in the pairing belong to a different more popular pairing, and generally speaking I ship both of these existing pairs massively. But yeah. It will become obvious what the pairing is when it emerges in-story, so I decided not to spoil it in the character tags or anything, but I appreciate some people may be weirded out, so this is just an advance warning that there IS a strange pairing in this fic.**

 **But yeah, all that aside, I don't know when the second part will be uploaded. Most likely after Christmas day. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this first part, and do leave me some feedback!**

* * *

"Is that it?"

Kyouko had forgotten Munakata was there as she'd painstakingly chronicled every detail of the two dead at her feet. He'd been that quiet, simply sitting there and waiting. Something seemed to have come over him. The dark air he had exuded when he'd followed her here had dissipated, and now it was replaced with something that she couldn't quite name, but knew all too well.

She suspected that when she next got hold of a mirror, she would look much the same herself.

"Here, certainly." She answered after a long pause. "But there's still a victim that needs to be identified."

"…..so you were both serious, then?"

"If you didn't think that, then why were you prepared to give me the benefit of the doubt?" Kyouko challenged.

Munakata said nothing to that, instead searing her with a sharp look before sighing and looking down, shrugging. There was something uncharacteristically adolescent and bashful about the gesture. In any other circumstance, she might have allowed herself a wry smile because of it.

As it was, she just huffed, shook her head, and continued on. Footsteps behind her confirmed that Munakata had decided to continue following her. She didn't know whether to be relieved or concerned about that.

"Answer one thing for me."

"What would that be?"

"The attacker, have they been different each time?"

Kyouko couldn't conceal her surprise and whirled around to gawp at Munakata.

"What makes you ask that?"

Munakata glared at her.

"Just tell me. I need to know." He snapped. "I need to know for sure, so that I know if I was right to….."

Halfway through whatever he had been planning to say, his steam ran out and his shoulders sagged. He suddenly seemed decades older than her, not just four years.

 _I'll be much the same, by the end of this._

"In a manner of speaking, yes, they do. "She started, carefully, as they started walking again. "But, it's not in the way you'd probably expect. The attacker, and their victim, they ar-"

She was cut off by an unearthly, loud screaming from somewhere further along, and they both skidded to a halt.

"Wh-what was that?" Munakata's hand tightened around his sword, as he looked wildly around them.

Kyouko didn't answer him, and instead started to run towards the sound. It stopped and started over and over in irregular bursts, sometimes sounding like vaguely distinguishable words, at other times simply being an incoherent voice of utter pain.

And she knew she had to go and see what was happening.

Gradually, it started to get closer and clearer. Whoever it was seemed now to be sobbing and struggling, but Kyouko couldn't see who it was. Scanning the corridor, and the various closed doors, she frowned.

"What's happening? Where are you?" Munakata called out imperiously, almost drowning out the sound. "What's the matter? We're out here, but we don't know where you are, so we can't do anything."

Whoever it was fell silent suddenly at that. Kyouko frowned even more deeply, wondering just how that would help, when she heard something new, and looked over to her side to see a set of large double doors slowly edge open. Munakata spotted the motion, and swiftly strode over and pulled the doors aside, only to step back in surprise as Izayoi almost fell on the ground in front of him.

 _What?_

Bloodied, bruised, breathing heavily and his long red coat torn to shreds, Izayoi somehow managed to grab onto the door and remain upright, but even that was an effort, for he was almost doubled over in pain, his arms and legs shaking. But even so, he managed to lift his head.

"Ruruka…." He gasped out, the hoarseness of his voice indicating that he was the one responsible for the noise. "Ruruka…..she isn't breathing anymore….she isn't…..I tried to…..stop it….stop her…..but…help her, _please_."

"Okay," she said, simply, having to work extra hard to keep her voice from trembling. "Okay. "

She nodded to Munakata, indicating that he should follow, and he did. Izayoi followed, stumbling, almost mutely, but his legs gave out and he sat near the doorway, breathing heavily. Kyouko looked around her, taking stock of her surroundings.

They appeared to be in the library. There was nothing particularly strange about it. There were shelves upon shelves of books, and the room was simply decorated (apart from the out-of-place Mono-Lisa painting on the wall, yet another clue they were not where they were meant to be). Some of the books had fallen from the shelves, but, deducing they'd been flung there because of the tremors of earlier, she was not too concerned about these

There was a long, almost L-shaped red sofa placed in the middle of the room, and she noticed two sets of boots leaning against the side of it-one sturdy black pair, and another very distinctive pointy-toed light pink pair. Directly opposite to the sofa, there was a screen.

Or rather, what was left of the screen.

Nearly all the glass of it had shattered and fallen out, the little bits sparkling like diamonds on the ground below it. The rest of it was dented from many blows, and some of that was explained by the one knife that was still embedded into a corner of it, and others which had fallen down and now lay amongst the glass fragments. These knives had a unique shape, and she made the assumption that these were Izayoi's own knives.

It did not take her long to locate where the knife that the attackers used was though, as she quickly spotted its handle further away. Quickly taking a few steps over to have a closer glance, she confirmed her suspicions that the knife was indeed covered in blood, and it looked as though it was flung there.

And not too far from this carnage, the fourth victim lay.

Or one of them. From what little she understood of this, it looked like two people had woken up to be the attacker. At the same time. Something about that made her utterly sick, and she had to breathe in and out deeply to push it down as she swept some sweets aside and knelt next to Andou's body, and started to examine her.

 _How bad was it, whatever you saw?_

Whatever it was had been enough to result in such….violence. She wasn't sure what else to call it, but it was definitely off the scale. The bodies of the other victims hadn't even approached this horror. She'd really gone to town on herself, slashing almost everywhere, but Kyouko couldn't see just how bad the injuries were, for most of Andou's body was now bandaged, desperately-tied strips of red material all over her limbs and some of her torso.

Some of the bandages seemed to be doing their job, but the rest were gradually getting soaked through. Another strip of cloth, crumpled and dumped in the corner, had apparently been used to wipe her face and neck clean, for though there was some minor injury there, there was no blood. She also noticed that one of Andou's wrists had been twisted back at a slightly odd angle, her fingers slightly curved as if she'd been gripping something.

Frowning, Kyouko glanced back over at the knife on the floor-the attackers' knife-and she started to build a better picture of what was happening. The destroyed screen, the bandages, the severity of the injuries…

 _God, oh god._

"Izayoi. Tell me what happened."

Kyouko's eyes almost bugged out of her head as Munakata, who had been broodily standing guard, suddenly looked down at Izayoi, who blearily lifted his head.

"I-I tried…th-th-the screen, i-it…..did something to us, b-but…." Izayoi stopped for a moment. "I-I….I…."

"You're not making sense. Think! Did you see the attacker?!" Munakata demanded.

Izayoi said nothing to this, but something flashed in his eyes, painful and desolate.

"Munakata-san!" Kyouko sharply said. She quickly checked something on Andou, and stood up to go over to them. When she got there, she smoothed down her skirt and knelt down in front of Izayoi.

"Izayoi-san. She still has a pulse."

He stared at her.

"There's a pulse there. Faint, but definitely there. So there's…"

Kyouko bit her lip and hesitated, wondering if it was right for her to say what she was about to say, but then shook the feeling away and continued anyway.

"There's still hope for her. If we can defeat the game, we'll get her out of here. So tell me, as best as you can, what happened."

"Her….her Forbidden Action….-"

"I noticed that. For now, don't worry about that."

Izayoi closed his eyes painfully, and for a moment Kyouko worried that he'd lost consciousness. But then, he started to talk again.

"M-M-Monobear, o-on-on the screen, woke us both up…said th-that we'd be-been selected a-as the attacker….but….didn't respond to us…a-a re-re-recorded animation."

Izayoi stumbled through his explanation, and the words often seemed to snag on themselves or trip over themselves as he struggled to get them out, but he continued, unprompted. When he started to talk about how Andou's cry of pain had snapped him out of his own video-induced trance, his eyes opened again and his breathing became shallow and harsh, voice veering up and down in panic as his eyes seemed to fix on something unseen in the distance.

 _What are you seeing, Izayoi-san?_

"It'll be fine," she murmured, almost inaudibly. "This can be solved. She'll be helped."

 _How did Naegi-kun do it? Words, the right reassuring words that could distract from pain, even if just for a moment?_

As she sensed Izayoi's explanation start to power down, she studied Izayoi's injuries with a critical eye, then shrugged off her blazer and tore it into irregular strips. Munakata noticed what she was doing, and knelt down and took over at that point, expertly turning the strips into bandages, and taking off his tie to use as an extra.

"What did he tell you?" he asked as he worked. Kyouko related what he had said, and took the opportunity to write his testimony in her notebook as she did.

 _There's no doubt at all._

"So Tengan tricked me." Munakata concluded, dully. Kyouko frowned at him.

"Excuse me?"

"He told the truth, but he tricked me. He said that nobody was immune from being despair, that the attacker alternated each time…."

Munakata trailed off, and his face contorted in pain. Kyouko frowned. Something wasn't adding up, between his story and her explanations.

"Munakata-san….what did you do?"

Munakata met her eyes and held them levelly, before he sighed.

"Something unforgiveable."

"…"

"Based on what I knew, it was the only way to end things. But…it's unravelling. I was wrong. And it's unforgivable."

"…Do you think that there's a way you could be forgiven?"

Munakata tilted his head at her and narrowed his eyes.

"Go." Kyouko told him. "Go, and find out. It's something you need to do. I will be fine here."

"This seems to me to be more like advice that Naegi would give."

"It is. But he's not here to give it. And it is not wrong."

"No. It isn't."

"But a bit of advice that is mine-stay away from the screens when the next limit hits, if you don't get there on time."

"Understood…." Munakata sighed and stood up. He pensively scanned the room one last time and then, sword gripped resolutely, he strode back out of the room and disappeared. Kyouko stared, and for a moment thought she probably should have ordered him to stay away from Mitarai, considering.

It turned out she didn't need to worry about that thought, for just a few minutes later, after she had finished bandaging Izayoi-who had eventually lost consciousness-Mitarai and Asahina burst into the room suddenly, wide-eyed and out of breath.

"Kyouko-Chan!" Asahina exclaimed. "So you ended up here! What actually happened, to make you run like that? And where's Naegi?"

Kyouko didn't respond, and looked down at her lap.

"….Kyouko-Chan?"

 **…**

Kyouko got through the explanation of everything that had happened, somehow. She had to stop, and start and circle around to get it all out. Though she didn't blame either of them for it, Mitarai and Asahina's constant disbelieving interruptions also challenged her. But somehow, eventually, she got through it.

She had barely taken a breath after her conclusion when Asahina, still sobbing, suddenly flung herself at her.

"Kyouko-Chan!" she wailed. Awkwardly, Kyouko patted Asahina's back. Mitarai hovered nearby slightly awkwardly, shifting from one foot to another and wringing his hands. Though it was just as likely he was very disturbed by both the carnage in the room and the events Kyouko had detailed, she narrowed her eyes at him and watched him flinch.

 _How are you involved in this?_

"S-so, now what?" he asked, not calling her out on it. Asahina let go of Kyouko and straightened, wiping her eyes.

"Obviously we need to find a way of getting these bracelets off! Especially for those two, then we can get them the hell out of here!"

"B-but how w-will we do that? We can't remove the bracelets!"

"But, we have to think of something, right?! And for now, we're safe now that we know how this is working…"

"Ah." Kyouko blinked, realising she had been deep in thought. "Speaking of that, Mitarai-kun."

"Y-yes?!" Mitarai jumped and blinked.

"I believe I mentioned that the video in question was an animation, rather than any sort of live feed."

"I-I…It wasn't me!"

 _That was fast._

"Wait, what?" Asahina blinked.

"It wasn't me!" Mitarai protested, shaking his head. "I didn't do anything, I didn't have anything to do with this! It was Junko Enoshima!"

"Junko Enoshima is dead." Kyouko said blandly. Mitarai started to tremble, and shook his head more violently.

"No! S-she t-took my animation skills and, and u-used them for despair. T-that's why th-they ….my cl-class fell to despair. I-it was my fault! A-and I couldn't do anything, I just ran away…I didn't w-want to run away anymore and now, this is happening…..m-my animation is causing despair again….it's…"

"Mitarai-kun." Kyouko snapped.

"I-I just wanted to save the w-wor-"

Mitarai's rambling came to a halt as suddenly, the lights of one side of the room turned off.

"Huh? What the…?" Asahina muttered. Kyouko frowned, and a moment later, the next ones turned off, plunging them into darkness. It was not pitch black, and so she could still see her companions, and the general outline of everything else in the room. But as it was still very dark, she relied mostly on memory to make it over to the door and push it back open.

"Somebody's turned off the power." She murmured, looking down the corridor. Hearing a small series of clatters, she left the door open and turned back to see Asahina and Mitarai behind her, looking astonished.

"They've come off! The bracelets have come off!"

Kyouko gawped, unable to help herself, then she looked down at her arm and noticed the black half of the bracelet snagged on her shirt sleeve. She picked it off carefully, and pressed it, reading her forbidden action as it scrolled past. Then, without thinking too much about the reason why, she tucked it into the pocket of her skirt, before looking up to see that Mitarai had received a message on his phone.

A video from Tengan.

Mitarai played it, and they all stared at it wordlessly as all their assumptions were turned on their head. When it stopped, Kyouko sighed deeply.

 _That…explains everything and nothing._

"T-Tengan-san…was a despair?!" Mitarai stuttered. "H-he was u-using me too?"

"It would seem like it." Kyouko agreed.

"H-how? H-how could that have happened? A-and I-I s-showed him h-how to a-animate. H-he said tha-that I could…."

"Mitarai, you're rambling." Asahina said, bluntly. "In any case, it not like it matters now, what with the power off, and the Director being dead. Let's just get out of here, right, Kyouko-Chan?"

"That seems to be the best course of acti-"

"No!" Mitarai almost shrieked. "I ha-have to do something. I-I wasn't able t-to before, b-but…..we need to g-get rid of it, I need to get rid of despair. O-otherwise we're all going to die! I-I'm g-going to get ri-rid of i-it with my Hope Video."

"Your what now?" Asahina sounded as confused as Kyouko felt. Though she had a suspicion that she knew anyway.

"A v-video t-that will fill us with hope, that will get rid of the pain and sorrow in the world. I managed to make one."

 _Getting rid of pain and sorrow….that won't bring anyone back. That won't bring Naegi-kun back._

"I wouldn't advise that. There are more pressing things. Izayoi-san and Andou-san, for instance. There's still a chance that they could be saved, meaning that the death count for this game would be two lower than if we left them. They need to get out of there."

"Ah, yeah! Yeah, that's true!" Asahina chimed in. "We'll talk about your Hope Video or whatever later. For now we need to get out of here!"

Mitarai just gawped at them, opening his mouth and shutting it, almost goldfish like. Kyouko rolled her eyes. While she empathised with the guilt he felt over his talents being used for something he hadn't wanted them to be used for, she had no time for this.

So she turned away from him deliberately, and beckoned Asahina to her so they could figure out how they'd get Izayoi and Andou to the exits between them.

But that turned out to be a mistake, for a few moments later, Mitarai snuck away.

 **…**

Everything for her became a blur after that point. Things got chaotic very quickly. But apart from discovering that Sakakura (with some assistance from Munakata) had been the one to turn down the power, and the moment that Togami and Hagakure had appeared in front of her to pave the way with the soldiers that were apparently brainwashed, she barely processed anything that was going on until somehow, finally, she was outside.

The sun had been a surprise to her. Though they had only been in there for some hours, it had felt like years. She'd almost forgotten that the sun was a thing in the first place. But the brightness, and the faint warmth against her face was welcome, as she closed her eyes for a moment and felt it before looking around her again.

Togami had been apt enough to bring paramedics and a helicopter ambulance, and they were fully occupied not just with the more severely injured Andou and Izayoi, but also Sakakura, who also had a stab wound in his middle, in addition to his self-amputated hand. She watched as they were loaded in, and as Munakata argued until he was allowed on with his friend. She supposed that was a continuation of his way of trying to find forgiveness. She didn't think it was a bad thing.

 _At least they have that chance._

Once the medical helicopter was off, she watched until it was little more than a speck in the sky, and then turned and went back to the tent where the others were. They were all looking at something on a tablet Togami was holding.

"Have they left now? What is that?"

"To answer the first question, yeah, we just waved them off." Asahina answered. "As for the second….I suppose it's a gift."

"Oh?"

Kyouko sat down on the chair that Hagakure pulled over for her, and then Togami replayed the video, which showed all the former Remnants looking as if…well, they were still very much active as Remnants. But she understood that this was a fake, and understood full well what it meant. It didn't need saying, so she nodded at Togami, and he switched off the tablet and held it.

"Well, that wraps things neatly, doesn't it?" Asahina said after an awkward moment of silence.

"Yup, exactly!" Hagakure agreed. "One thing less to worry about now!"

"Yes, but this is not without consequences." Togami pointed out, making them fall silent again. They remained that way, and Kyouko remembered the bracelet piece. She reached inside her pocket, and curled her fingers around it.

 _The costs were far too high._

Sighing, she let go of the piece, but kept it in her pocket. She pushed back a lock of her hair, and looked upwards, where she could see a fragment of sky through the tent top, and wondered what would happen next.

 **…**

When the rest of them were finally picked up, they made a detour to a hotel in the middle of Towa City, to fulfil the promise Naegi had made.

Two figures were waiting on the roof when they got there, and even before the helicopter got close enough for Kyouko to properly see, she knew straight away that the athletic, more youthful figure who immediately started waving was none other than Komaru. And when they did get closer, the resemblance was unmistakable.

 _How can I look her in the eye?_

Kyouko felt her stomach churning, but when they landed, she tried her best to ignore it, and took a few deep breaths. She waited for Togami and Asahina to get out first, and then slowly undid her belt and went to follow them.

"Kirigiricchi, are you okay?"

Just as she'd reached the helicopter door and was about to step down, Kyouko turned and looked at Hagakure, who was regarding her quizzically as he struggled with his own belts. She sighed and gave him a fleeting, slightly bitter smile.

"I'm fine, thank you, Hagakure-kun."

She went down, and stood by the helicopter. A few seconds later, Hagakure came stumbling down and whizzed right past her, going straight into the friendly-chaotic conversation the others were having. Standing there, on the edge of things, for a moment she felt light and relieved that she was reunited with her friends once again, that she was even able to _be_ here for such a moment.

But of course, it didn't take long for the missing piece of the puzzle to become glaringly apparent.

 _Naegi-kun…._

"Hey, you're Kirigiri-san, right?"

Kirigiri blinked as she suddenly found herself face-to-face with Komaru, who grinned earnestly at her. Fukawa stood by her side, while the others awkwardly congregated nearby.

"I am."

"Ah, I thought so. You seem exactly like what Onii-Chan described to me. Pleased to meet you, Kirigiri-san. I'm Komaru Naegi!"

"Kyouko Kirigiri." She returned, shaking the hand that Komaru offered to her. Komaru beamed, but her gaze was piercing as she looked Kyouko up and down. She wondered just what it was Naegi had told his little sister about her.

"Say….where is Onii-Chan? Shouldn't he be with you all as well?"

Just like that, the atmosphere plummeted. Kirigiri stiffened, and Asahina, Togami and Hagakure exchanged looks. Fukawa eyed them suspiciously.

"Something definitely happened, didn't it?" Fukawa asked. "Something awful."

"Ah, well, you see….." Hagakure started, and then trailed off, his sentence devolving into stilted, awkward laughter. Komaru looked at them all, wide-eyed, before returning her gaze to Kyouko, who felt herself shrink.

The piece of bracelet nestled in her skirt pocket suddenly felt as if it was burning a hole. It took all she had to not reach for it and curl her fingers around it, as she had been doing constantly on-flight.

"He promised he was going to come and get me, afterwards. And I assumed that in such a case, he would be introducing you to me rather than…."

"K-Komaru…." Fukawa stuttered.

"But he isn't…..Kirigiri-san, is he dead?" Komaru hesitantly asked. When Kyouko could not answer immediately, the younger girl's voice sharpened slightly.

"Is he?"

At that, all Kirigiri could do was nod, and close her eyes.

"Yes. " She said simply. "I'm sorry."

 _Such empty, empty words. But I don't have anything else._

Komaru stared at Kyouko for a long moment, and her lip wobbled. Her eyes misted over, but she remained relatively composed as she stared.

 _Don't ask me how or why. Not yet. Please._

"Are you sure? One hundred percent sure? There isn't any mistake, or….?"

"There was no mistake, Komaru. Kirigiri wouldn't make a mistake like that." Togami corrected.

 _But I made the mistake of being the one alive._

"I…I see….."

Though she was still composed, tears spilled over. Komaru tilted her head.

"Do you know why then, Kirigiri-san?"

"I do."

 _But there are some things that I don't understand, still._

"Then…..later. Will you tell me later? When we've gone back?"

Kyouko swallowed, and nodded. Komaru managed a smile, and then turned away, wiping her eyes and sniffing, loudly. There was the strong sense that she was trying very hard to be mature and composed about everything, which struck Kyouko as incredibly unfair. Then again, everything about this was unfair, so she found herself wondering just why that was special.

"Come, come, Komaru-Chan, let's go." Asahina stepped in at this point, putting her arms around the younger girl and coaxing her on the helicopter. And the rest of them just followed silently, for there wasn't really anything else that could be said at that point.

 **…**

The next few days and weeks were a whirlwind to her. Staying in Togami's building while they figured out just exactly what to do with the Future Foundation and what to do next, Kyouko threw herself into the aftermath investigation as if her life depended on it. More than ever, she was determined to get results.

She knew, in the end, that she would have to present some lies, especially given the video the 77th Class had left for them as atonement. But she was damned if she wasn't going to include as much of the truth as she possibly could in the final investigation. It was the least she could do.

And the only thing she knew how to do.

 **…**

In between investigating, however, she kept tabs on the three who had come out of the game in the worst condition, visiting them as often as she could. Of course, everyone visited them, but she dedicated herself to this.

Sakakura, she didn't really need to worry about so much. He pulled through his surgery, and though the months and years ahead would be full of hardship, given his missing hand, he was well on the road to recovery, regaining his strength quickly and cooperating with the measurements and procedures needed for him to get a prosthetic. Though naturally he was still as grouchy as he had been before.

But the main thing was, he had support.

Munakata was like the reverse of Kyouko, pooling all his energies into helping Sakakura heal, and then using any leftover time to help with restructuring the Future Foundation, and nobody had a problem with that (or at least, they didn't complain). Whenever she saw them, Sakakura always seemed a touch embarrassed, Munakata overly-concerned, as though his friend was made of spun glass. But true happiness was still clearly in their reach.

The other two were not so blessed.

Andou struggled almost valiantly through her injuries, but in the end, it was too much for her body to take, and two painful days after their escape, she passed away without once regaining consciousness. Izayoi also remained unconscious, but at least remained stable in that time. After four days, he did wake up-but only long enough for him to immediately ask for Ruruka, and to see the answer in her eyes before he slipped back into the dark again.

Izayoi remained there as the days stretched, and though his condition only got slightly worse, it did not get better, either. Nothing changed, as day after day Kyouko would go in to check on him, only to be told nothing had changed and to see this for herself. Day after day, things remained the same.

Before the game, though she had not particularly had any strong negative opinions of him, she had not particularly talked to Izayoi or interacted with him in any way to have any strong _positive_ ones, either. Yet now, each time she saw him, she was gripped with fear, that he would be lost to her.

It was not something she completely understood. She knew that it stemmed from the game, from finding him in the library and listening to his pain. And she suspected that it was guilt, too. She'd given him hope that Andou would survive, and then had to tell him that she hadn't. But again, given that she hadn't known him that well before all this, she could not figure out just why it mattered to her to the extent that it did.

But she remained gripped with that fear. And so she kept visiting and praying and hoping and waiting, each and every day.

After a month had gone by, one evening when she had just been sitting there, writing up her notes on the day's work as she dictated it to him, she paused to regard him. Then, sighing, she closed her notebook, put it down on the bedside table, and leaned in.

"You can't die here, not like this. Not after you made it out of the game." She whispered into his ear.

"I…understand, you know. Why you'd not want to bother any more. Most likely better than you'd assume. But still…come back. Don't let go. Come back. Please…"

She straightened. Izayoi remained solidly unconscious, there was no indication he had heard her, or even cared. Embarrassed, she felt her cheeks heat up, and she tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. Then, she got up and left the room with an abrupt goodbye, and headed back to her own room.

A couple of days later, she was sorting out through evidence when her phone rang in her pocket. Warily, she took it out, noticed it was Munakata, and answered the call.

"I thought you'd want to know," he said without preamble. "Izayoi is awake."

 **…**

Kyouko lifted her face to the sky when they got out, and let the breeze hit her. With so many people from all the different former divisions crammed in there to pay their respects, the funeral home had been so hot. It was a relief, now it was finally over.

As others streamed out, she was aware of them having to side-step her as she looked to the sky, and so she went over to one side, and stuck her hands in the pockets of her long jacket, shivering a little. Still, the feeling was much preferable to the stuffiness of the funeral home.

 _Now….now what do I do?_

She sighed, wishing she knew. A few people flicked glances her way, and she could feel the contempt of some of them too. Unconsciously fiddling with the chain of the bracelet that encircled her wrist, she thought she didn't blame them, not really. Hadn't she felt the same herself? It had been her fault, in a way, after all?

 _No. If Kizakura-san hadn't been so insistent on knowing, if he hadn't told Naegi-kun…_

She shook her head at that, vigorously. She couldn't go passing off the responsibility on others. Even if that much was true (she had the photograph on her own desk now, she knew that that much was true), the fact remained that it rested on her. It should have been her amongst the people everyone had gathered here to mourn and bid farewell. It was that simple.

Someone came up next to her, and linked arms with her, resting their head against her. Kyouko turned her head to look down, expecting to see Asahina and instead looking down at Komaru. For a random moment, all she could think was that Komaru's hair didn't look so messy, it now more closely resembling the bob she had in various pre-Tragedy photographs.

"I miss Onii-Chan." Komaru murmured, looking down at the ground. Kyouko stayed silent. Even if Komaru had accepted her after listening to her explanations, she didn't want to inadvertently defend herself when she didn't have the right.

"I know you do too. " Komaru started to trace an invisible pattern on the ground with the tip of her smart shoe. Kyouko watched it, trying to discern it.

"Many people do." Was all she said, neutrally. Komaru looked up at this, and frowned.

"Yeah, I figured that much. But it's different for us, isn't it?"

"I…I suppose so."

"So, anyway…." Komaru switched to a more cheerful tone. "I was thinking, I might just call you Onee-Chan, instead. "

This, Kyouko was not expecting.

"W-what? That's what you probably would have been anyway, if Onii-Chan was here now!"

 _No, I wouldn't. You'd be comforting_ him _and mourning_ me _instead. There would be no reason to call me something like that._

"You're not going to say anything?"

Kyouko blinked, and realised that she had indeed not said anything. She opened her mouth, but found that she didn't know what to say. So she closed it again, and just shrugged, hoping to convey the fact that she didn't mind, but wasn't sure. Komaru frowned again, and let go of her arm, and after considering her for a moment, gave a shrug of her own.

"In which case, I'm just gonna annoy you with the name until you decide to tell me to stop. Okay….Onee-Chan?"

 **…**

 _No….no, no._

She woke up in a flash, almost automatically stuffing the corner of her pillow into her mouth so it would block the scream that had threatened to stumble out of her throat. Curling up in a tight ball, she waited for the trembling to stop, but she did not fight it.

She was too used to it by now, after all.

Waiting, she kept her eyes open, not yet wanting to slip back into sleep, and looked around her. Her eyes soon found their way to her alarm clock, and she saw it had only been a couple of hours since she'd gone to bed. Again, it was something she was used to. But she hated it, so much.

Eventually though, she felt her body calm down, and after pulling the pillow out, she cautiously untangled herself from the quilt, and sat up, putting her hand over her heart and feeling it rattle.

 _God, when will this ever end?_

Tonight's nightmare had been of the moment she'd woken up there, and the realisation that something was horribly wrong with the fact, of how desperately she had run searching and hoping and wishing that she was mistaken. Other nights, it was Kizakura, his past self-fading in and out of the background of his death scene, taunting her with his unhinged devotion.

The worst nightmares were always of Naegi, trying to imagine exactly what had been going through his mind when he had taken the knife and plunged it into himself. There was no doubt that the final blow had been self-inflicted, but just how it had reached that point was something she could only speculate about.

And her mind was all too happy to disrupt her sleep to do just that.

 _A fitting punishment. But how do I live like this? How?_

Sighing, she got out of bed, and crossed over to the cupboard, and flung the doors open, before crouching down and pulling out a box. At this point, she didn't need to turn on the lights, or even look properly in that direction, to locate it. She could just reach in and grab at it. Once she had done so, she shifted so she was sitting cross legged on the floor, and then opened the box, and took each item out and laid it on the floor beside it.

A white fedora, pens, a set of silver cufflinks, his pocket flask, a stack of photographs tied with a ribbon, and the negatives of the photograph that had been on her father's desk at Hope's Peak. She knew those things off by heart too. They were the only things of his she had taken, when sorting through his effects afterwards. The rest had been donated towards helping people, or simply disposed of. Perhaps she should have gotten rid of these things, too.

Because why on earth would she want mementos of someone who had hurt her so much?

But as she picked up the pocket flask and traced the writing on it, as she stared askance at the pile of photographs and the very familiar old ribbon wrapped around them, her younger self, tucked up in the corner of her mind, still laughed and giggled and called for him.

" _How many times do I need to say it? I'm not infected. I never was. Not everything is despair."_

"Oh, it would have been so much easier to understand if you had been, though." Kyouko bitterly said aloud.

Tiredly, out of habit, she unscrewed the pocket flask's lid and breathed in deeply. There was only a small trace of bourbon there, more smell than substance, but still, it was there. A reminder of him.

She still couldn't stand it, but a part of her now wondered if he had been driven to drink because of her and her father. If perhaps there was some sort of Kirigiri curse that meant she was fated to abandon and hurt, to fail in such a way.

And if that would be enough to justify her turning to it now that she was on the receiving end of the demons.

It would be nice, to go through life with that numb kind of nonchalance. If Kizakura was any example, she'd still be able to keep her intelligence anyway, still be able to function. But she'd be more relaxed, calmer, and even more able to get through each day, not to mention sleep through the night. All she needed to do was start with the dregs of the pocket flask, emblazoned with her name as though it was a sign.

 _No. No, not like this. That's not the answer._

She knew it wasn't. No matter what, she knew it wasn't. So she lifted her head, pointedly held the flask away as she re-screwed the lid, and then piled everything in the box and stashed it back where it belonged before getting up again.

Then, she stumbled back into bed and wrapped the quilt around herself, before reaching over to switch on the bedside light and picking up the book she'd left on the table earlier, and continuing where she had left off. It wasn't as if there was any point in going back to sleep, after all. The same cycle would happen all over again.

 **…**

When she got to the meeting room, only Munakata, Sakakura, Togami and two of Togami's right hand men were present.

"Good morning." She greeted politely as she went to a seat at the end of the large table, her preferred seat. Munakata returned the greeting, Sakakura saluted her self-consciously with his prosthetic hand, and Togami simply got up and went to the sideboard before approaching her a few minutes later with a cup of tea that had apparently just been made.

"You didn't have breakfast." Was his only explanation, delivered calmly with a slight frown. Kirigiri raised an eyebrow at Togami, but nodded, acknowledging that he was correct.

"Are you stupid, not having breakfast in the morning?" Sakakura exclaimed. "What are we going to do if you end up fainting on us halfway through this?!"

"I'm not that hungry anyway. But I will eat something afterwards. In the meantime, I have Togami-kun's cup of tea."

"If that was _my_ cup, I wouldn't have given it to you." Came Togami's response. And sure enough, he had resumed his seat, and was sipping from his own distinctive cup. Kyouko could not help but chuckle at that.

They all (asides from the henchmen) started to chat quietly, and the others started to drift in. Munakata got up to put the presentation he had planned on the screen, but Yamanabe, the new head of the 4th Division, cajoled him into switching it over to the TV function, given that they were still very early and the rest had yet to arrive.

After some back and forth Munakata eventually gave in, and Yamanabe cheerfully flipped it onto a flamboyant looking talk show, before sitting down. The inane sounds filled the room, and while some seemed engrossed, for Kyouko, it was just a welcoming background noise. She imagined most of the others thought the same, based on their reaction.

"W-what….what is that?"

Distracted from the conversation she had been listening to, Kyouko turned to see that the question had come from Izayoi, who seemed to have frozen the moment he'd walked in through the door. His eyes were fixed on the screen.

"Oh, this?" Yamanabe answered. "Just a time passer till ever-"

"S-stop it. D-don't…."

"Eh? Izayoi-san, you don't like this show?" Asahina asked. "Should we change it?"

"Aww, man, do we have to? It's just getting fun!" Yamanabe pouted.

"We're only waiting on a couple more people, so now's a good time in any case." Munakata pointed out.

"No, no, stop it. Don't…."

"Izayoi-san?" Kyouko murmured. Something was wrong, she could sense it, and carefully, she got up.

"What are you saying? I won't….I won't…." Izayoi's breathing became heavy, and his horrified gaze was still fixed on the screen. It seemed that he hadn't heard or even noticed any of them.

"Izayoi?" Munakata asked. "Is something the matter?"

"NO! DON'T! STOP IT!"

The room was stunned silent by Izayoi's sudden outburst, the show on the screen the only noise left, but before anyone could do or say anything, from nowhere he pulled out three knives and flung them at the screen. Asahina shrieked as she ducked, along with Togami, and Sakakura was quick to push Munakata out of the way as all three blades hit the screen, shattering it, before falling along with the other glass fragments.

 _Oh. Oh, Izayoi-san._

Putting the pieces together and realising what must have happened, Kyouko felt something heavy in her chest, and she wanted to cry. But instead, she watched in horrified silence as Togami's two right-hand men sprung into action to restrain Izayoi, just as he appeared to be hit by a wave of exhaustion and his knees gave out.

"I won't…." he gasped out. "You won't….hurt…Ruruka. S-stop…"

"What the hell was that?" one of the others in the room asked. "What the _hell_ was that?"

"Is he even okay?!" Yamanabe gasped.

"Explain yourself! What was the meaning of this?!" one of the right-hand men asked Izayoi, gripping him roughly by the arm and shaking him slightly.

"Yeah, exactly, what was that?"

"He's seeing something else." Kyouko said quietly, finally finding the ability to move. "Let him go. This is nothing to do with us. He won't hurt anyone."

Everyone stared at her blankly.

"But, Kyouko-Chan, did you see what…?"

"I saw, Asahina-san."

"Nah, she's right." Unexpectedly, Sakakura got up and made his way around the table. "Let him go."

Kyouko levelled a look at Togami, who let out a long suffering sigh.

"Shindo, Isozaki, listen to them."

They did, and when they let go of Izayoi his shoulders slumped in defeat, and he remained on his knees, still breathing heavily, eyes still wild and desperate.

"Ruruka…"

"Oi, Izayoi!" Reaching them, Sakakura knelt, blocking Izayoi's view of the screen. "Izayoi! You're not there, okay? Wherever that head of yours thinks you are, _you're_ _not there_. It's not real, it's not happening anymore. It's over, alright? It's _over_."

Izayoi blinked and stared, but did not say anything for a while.

"You understand me, right? You. Are. Not. There. You're here, where it's safe."

There was silence for a little while longer, as everyone watched the two of them, agog. Eventually though, Izayoi's breathing evened out, and when he blinked and stared again, it looked like this time he was actually seeing what was in front of him.

 _Thank goodness._

"S-Sakakura?"

"Yeah. Come on, kid." Sakakura got up with a groan, then held out his good hand to Izayoi. "I think you need a break or something, before you spontaneously combust."

"I think _that_ train left the station." Yamanabe muttered. Kyouko turned and glared at her, with more feeling than she'd expected. Yamanabe's eyes widened, and then she turned away pointedly.

"Oi, Munakata. Can we excuse ourselves this time?" Sakakura asked once Izayoi was up. Munakata nodded.

"Yes, go."

And so they did, the rest of the room sighing a collective sigh of relief when they did. Kyouko just sighed, and went to sit down again.

"Isozaki." Togami was quick to direct one of his men. "Go and get somebody to clean this up. And see about getting a replacement screen for this room.

"Yes, sir!" Isozaki said, before leaving.

"Okay, that's all well and good, but what about what we're meant to be here for?" one of the others asked irritably. Munakata nodded seriously.

"The presentation would have been useful, but I have notes here. We can do without it."

And so he did. The rest of the meeting went smoothly, though Kyouko was barely paying attention. When it had finished and they were leaving, the cleaning crew had arrived, and Togami stayed behind to deal with them.

News of what Izayoi had done spread through the building quickly, and some of the whispers made Kyouko bristle, and it took all she had to not just abandon her work and give them a piece of her mind. But it didn't seem like Izayoi would have heard any of it, for no matter where she looked in the free minutes she had across the day, neither he nor Sakakura were anywhere to be seen.

When she did eventually come across Sakakura, it was very late, and she was heading down for dinner just as he was coming out of Munakata's office

"Sakakura-san!"

"Oh, hey, Kirigiri." He gave her a quizzical look as she reached him, but then before she could ask anything, his face cleared.

"I took him out on patrol with me today. For the entire day. It was relatively chilled, nothing too taxing, though we did end up spending a couple of hours with a bunch of elementary school kids, cos it turns out he's a bit of a figure amongst them. They even call him 'Yoi-sensei'. It's crazy."

Kyouko waited.

"Wait, you know, don't you? That all the metalwork stuff he does, and some of the other bits he's been teaching himself, he's been teaching kids around here as a way of rebuilding the area." Sakakura asked.

"Ah." Kyouko nodded, remembering. "I've heard."

"Yes, well. I somehow cajoled him into giving me a few pointers on handling the knives like what he has, and he agreed. Not," Sakakura glared suddenly. "That you needed to know _that_ or anything."

"Yes, of course."

"But anyway, we didn't talk about…..you know, but he's alright now, though he still seems a bit shaken up. I told Munakata it might be best we do something about the screens around here so that he doesn't freak out again, least until he sees someone about that or something. Also, he's not so bad a guy either. We talked some back in the hospital, but I've never spent a proper full day just hanging out with him, and it turns out he's pretty cool. But yes, as I said, he's fine. There's no point you going to check on him now-I sent him off to go get some sleep, because he's pretty beat and we did stop for food on the way back, so yeah."

Kyouko nodded, and raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you say that about me checking on him?"

"Because I can see your need to do so written all over your face." Sakakura snorted. "But anyway, you should go down to his workshop tomorrow or something, see him in action in his 'Yoi-sensei 'mode. It really is quite something."

"I see." Kyouko nodded, trying to keep her facial expression as neutral as possible. Sakakura laughed, and shook his head, clearly not buying it.

"See you later, Kirigiri." He called as he headed off in the opposite direction. Kyouko stared after him for a moment, then shrugged and went to dinner, thinking about that.

 **…**

"So, that's all good and ready to go." Kyouko stated as she closed the file and slid it across the small table to Togami. He took it and nodded.

"Yes, I'll make sure it gets processed on time. " He got up, and crossed the room to put the file on a pile that, while still neat, was rapidly becoming unstable. He seemed to notice it himself, for he frowned at it and shook his head in annoyance before looking over his shoulder at her.

"What else do you have to do today?"

"I have to chase up Tanaka-san, and I have to prepare for testifying tomorrow. But I was going to make a quick visit to the workshop before all of that." She said, referring to the basement workshop which Togami had essentially handed over for Izayoi to work in.

She went there every so often now, mostly to reassure herself, because the screen incident had made her flash back rather vividly to the time trapped in the Future Foundation killing game, and what had occurred in the library.

"And what time are you dealing with Tanaka?" Togami inquired, making no comment about the workshop.

"Three thirty."

Togami quickly looked up at the large wall-clock, and nodded.

"In which case, there is time for a cup of tea."

 _In your world, there's always time for a cup of tea._

Kyouko didn't think that was a bad thing though, and she knew that this was Togami's way of looking out for her as a colleague and comrade. And in any case, there was no arguing with Togami when it came to tea (though he was hard to argue with under most circumstances anyway), so she smiled and nodded.

Going to the sideboard where he kept all his tea-making equipment, Togami set about making two cups of tea in silence. Kyouko didn't mind so much, simply leaning back in her chair and waiting.

 _Who could have imagined that I'd spend my days like this?_

This was very, very different from the future self she had once visualised. But of course, that future self had almost entirely stopped being possible from the moment she'd set foot in Hope's Peak, really. And after the second Mutual Killing Game she had been involved in, any hint of possibility had been smashed to pieces.

Not that she should have been here to contemplate this in the first place.

"I can hear you brooding, Kirigiri." Togami said almost as soon as the thought occurred to her. A few moments later, he turned, and Kyouko saw that he had put the cups on a tray, and added a plate of very fancy biscuits. She stared at them, wondering where Togami had kept them that she hadn't even noticed him take them out in the first place.

"I hide them, otherwise Komaru gets to them whenever she comes here. And then insists on giving some to Fukawa, completely depleting my biscuit supply. Just how many biscuits can two young females handle in one go?" Togami complained, shaking his head as he sat down across from her.

"Now that's a question." Kyouko remarked, raising an eyebrow and picking up her cup. "Perhaps you should do a formal experiment to find the answer, next time they come."

"And waste all of my best biscuits? I'd rather not." Togami retorted, somewhat sniffily. Kyouko held back a chuckle at that, but did allow herself to smile.

"But to get to the point-you're still not sleeping well, are you?" he asked. Kyouko looked at him.

"I'm managing fine."

 _By which I mean I've figured out how not to scream, so I don't need to keep stuffing the pillow in my mouth each time._

"Kirigiri, there are bags under your eyes, and you're quite literally amongst the very last people to clock out each day. If not the very last person. "

Kyouko remained silent. Togami shook his head and sighed in annoyance.

"Well, at least you don't skip meals anymore. Komaru in particular was concerned by that, as I'm sure you're aware. "He continued. "But what are you hoping to gain from pushing yourself to the brink?"

 _Closure? Forgiveness? Distraction? All three, and something else?_

"If it's guilt, then stop. There's no point to that. What could you have done? You weren't the only player who factored into what happened, and there was no way you could control two grown men, especially not one who had known your father for that long and was significantly older than you. Working yourself up is pointless. "

"Yes, it is."

"But of course, in these matters, using logic isn't that easy." Togami sighed. "I suspected that much. Especially given that it's Naegi we're talking about. He was loved, inexplicably enough. "

"I know….."

"Do you? Then, explain that bracelet." Togami pointed to it, and instinctively, Kyouko covered it with her other hand and stared at Togami searchingly. He narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't say anything. It took her a moment to realise that it was her turn to say something now.

"It's….a reminder. Of what happened. I'm not entirely at fault, I am aware, but that doesn't absolve me of any responsibility for Naegi-kun's death. Or even Kizakura-san's death. I suppose I do overplay it in my mind at times. However, the fact still remains. And I can't let that slide."

For what seemed like the millionth time, Togami sighed deeply. He rubbed his forehead, and prepared to launch into another mini lecture, but Kyouko still had something to say, and she beat myself to it.

"I also didn't plan for surviving afterwards. Of course, nobody made concrete plans as such. But quite literally, I proceeded through the game with the mind-set that I would die, and that was that. That is what I planned for. So now that I am here, though I'm grateful for life…..I'm not sure what to do with it, if that makes sense. I don't know how to live, what life is. I survived, yes, but living is a different matter, and I can't solve it. So I work instead, just going through each day one at a time, because I at least know how to do that. And perhaps in the meantime I'll figure out how it is I live."

Clearly, whatever Togami had planned to say had become completely useless in light of this confession, so there were a good few moments of silence. Kyouko took the time to down most of her tea, and she had just selected one of the biscuits off of the plate when he spoke up again.

"But is that not what life is? Going through it, one day at a time?"

"Erm…"

 _Is it? Is it that simple?_

"I suppose only you can decide that. Though for the record, I think pushing yourself for these very reasons is foolish. But I want to make a deal with you."

Kyouko tilted her head curiously.

"What sort of deal?"

"When you think you have your answer-when you've figured out what it means to live as opposed to survive- then you need to get rid of that godforsaken bracelet."

Kyouko looked down at it. For a moment, she was taken back to when it worked, seeing the words of her forbidden action scroll by as if they were actually doing so. Feeling a small headache come on, she rubbed at her forehead, then sipped at what tea remained in her cup, before looking at Togami, regarding her with arctic blue eyes, waiting for her answer.

So slowly, though she had so many doubts and new questions, she nodded and sealed the deal.

 **…**

Curled up in the corner of the bench, she watched from over her notebook as Izayoi made the last checks and then move to retrieve his coat when he glanced over his shoulder and stopped. After studying her for a moment, he turned back on his heel and crossed the room in a few large steps, looking increasingly ready to bolt with each one until he stopped directly in front of her.

"You're still here."

"I am."

"That's…unusual."

 _Well, I can't argue with that one, can I?_

"Aren't you usually busy?" he queried.

"Things are slow on my end this week, so not so much." She sat up straighter, feeling it would be better to continue the conversation if she was actually sitting up.

"It's mostly a few non-urgent loose-ends that are better off dealt with in the morning. And some admin, too."

"Ah." One side of Izayoi's mouth quirked up. "Paperwork. Of course. Escaping it?"

To that, Kyouko simply turned her notebook over and showed it to him, so he could see the sheet that she had leaning against the pages. Izayoi looked at it levelly, and nodded. He stuck his hands into the pocket of his trousers and studied her. She met his eyes just as calmly, and there was a moment of silence as they both assessed each other.

"I suppose it's the same either way." Izayoi broke the silence. "It's almost become reassuring, having you here keeping an eye on me."

"I'm not exac-"

"You are though, that's the thing. Or at least you were. To make sure that I don't snap again."

Internally, Kyouko winced, remembering that day. Izayoi hadn't done anything like that in the months since, but looking back, it was easy to see that all the signs had been there. But between hospitalisation and the fact he spent most of his time down here, it hadn't been so easy to notice these signs earlier. And perhaps there had been the assumption that after just over three years, they were moving forward in healing, not backwards.

But given that she still had nightmares, and still dealt with them by dragging up that box of unwanted memories and testing herself with the pocket flask, so she of all people should have realised that the assumption was a stupid one. Even if she didn't need to muffle herself with a pillow anymore.

 _I'm starting to acquire a track record of this, aren't I?_

"I don't think badly of you for it, Kirigiri."

Kyouko blinked at Izayoi's suddenly quieter tone, and the sadder look on his face, but waited. Though they'd had semi-serious conversations before, this was the first time any of their conversations had taken this particularly _personal_ sort of turn. She did not want to mess things up.

"I'm not angry about that. If it were Ruruka, I'd want someone to keep an eye on her and look after her. "

"Izayoi-san…"

"Besides, this isn't completely out of the blue. You've been trying to look after me right from the start. Even back then…when I was in the dark. I can't say I remember it in the same way I'd remember an actual memory, but I remember your voice from back then. I probably still will…"

Kyouko frowned.

"Izayoi-san, are you thinking of killing yourself?" she blurted out in a hurry.

Now it was Izayoi's turn to frown down at her, and for a moment she thought she had blown it before his face cleared and he shook his head.

"I always _think_ about it. I always think about it. But….I have no solid intentions that way."

"Thank goodness." Kyouko couldn't hide her relief, and Izayoi tilted his head at her curiously, and then smiled slightly.

"Thank you, by the way." He said. "For….keeping an eye on me. Like I said, it's….reassuring, somehow."

"It's nothing you need to thank me for." She told him. He nodded, and then promptly changed the subject.

"What's that around your wrist?"

Kyouko looked at her hands, but it took her a moment to realise he was referring to her bracelet.

"You mean this?" she indicated. "A bracelet."

"Is it what I think it…."

Izayoi's sentence petered out, and he knelt down in front of her. Staring at him, for a moment Kyouko was taken back to the game, when their roles had almost been reversed.

"May I see?"

Wordlessly, she stuck out her hand. To her surprise, Izayoi used one of his hands to hold hers, and the other to study the bracelet, twisting it around and looking at it from all angles.

"This brings back things. You only used the black half though?"

"I didn't hold onto the other bit."

"Ah. But…." Izayoi frowned, and pressed the black tubing. When it didn't work, he looked closer at it.

"Ah, it's just tubing now, so of course…. But how…..no, wait, I see how…..who did this for you, actually?"

"I did it myself." Kyouko stated, thinking of nights filled with fiddly finger work and being cautious of getting glue on her gloves. Izayoi looked up and blinked in confusion, and she sighed.

"Well, who would I have asked for something like this?"

"That's true." Izayoi nodded sagely, as if that made sense. "Lucky, though…"

Kyouko raised an eyebrow at this.

"Lucky?"

"Bad choice of words, perhaps." Izayoi grimaced. "But…."

He bit his lip and looked away to the side, his eyes gaining a far-off look to them. Kyouko tilted her head curiously.

"Izayoi-san?"

"You have a more tangible sign of your pain there, for everyone to see. For you to see. Proof."

"….I'm not sure I understand."

"Proof that this is all real…everything that happened, my feelings now. Seeing is believing, right?"

"It _is_ all real. Nobody is doubting what happened."

 _And_ I _can see your pain clearly._

"Hmm." Still looking away, Izayoi stopped fiddling with her bracelet, but didn't let go of her hand. Another moment of silence stretched out between them, longer this time. Kyouko found that she didn't mind that.

Eventually though, he looked up and gazed at her searchingly.

"Do you still have time on your hands?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

Izayoi let go of her hand and got up, before sitting down on the bench, next to her.

"Do you think we could stay here for a while longer?"

"Of course."


	2. Part 2

The café at this time of day struck the right note between crowded and desolate, and so it didn't take too long for Kyouko to spot Komaru, sitting with a cup of juice, reading the menu with exaggerated intensity.

"Am I late, or are you early?" she asked when she reached the table, already unwinding her scarf as she did so.

"Early." Komaru looked up and grinned, before passing the menu to her. "They have a decent selection of cakes here. Pick one. My treat."

"We'll see. How have you been, Komaru?"

Kyouko sat down, hung the scarf on the back of the chair and unbuttoned her jacket as Komaru almost instantly launched into an anecdote about something that had happened at her workplace. By the time she had scanned the menu, made her decision about what to order and flagged down a waitress to give the order, Komaru had finished two more anecdotes, each as entertaining and funny as the last.

"Okay." When the waitress left, Komaru took a breath and pointed at Kyouko. "Your turn now, Onee-Chan. Spill."

She tilted her head.

"Spill?"

Komaru rolled her eyes affectionately.

"Onee-Chan, really?"

"Komaru, I'm not sure what you're asking me to tell you."

"Okay, fine! A little bird told me that you're dating Izayoi-san."

"Ah." Kyouko raised an eyebrow. "Then the little bird would be correct. Though while we're on the topic, I'm guessing the little bird is Fukawa-san."

"That's not staying on the topic, that's diverting it, and I'm _not_ falling for it." Komaru tried to be stern, but she soon gave in and grinned as broadly as she clearly wanted to.

"So yeah, about that. Spill." Komaru leaned forward expectantly. Kyouko shook her head in amusement.

"I'm not entirely sure where to start…"

"Okay, I'm going to take that at face-value, so…." Komaru pretended to think.

"Who he is and how you know each other in the first place I already know, so that's self-explanatory. And I already know how long for, thanks to all the Future Foundation gossip Touko-Chan and Asahina-san pass to me…uh, how about just explaining to me how? I mean, it's not a bad thing…just that hearing that you'd fallen in love with Izayoi-san was the last thing I'd expected to hear."

"I didn't fall in love, as such. More like looking around me and realising that I was knee-deep, and had been for a while."

"That's unusually poetic, coming from you." Komaru deadpanned.

Kyouko chuckled.

"Perhaps it is. I wouldn't know about that."

"Okay, fine. When did you 'look around you and realise', then? Is there any special story about that?"

 _Now there's a question._

She could draw a clear line from that one moment in his workshop to where she was now, because that was had allowed for any kind of closeness in the first place. But when it had tipped from a non-specific closeness to this thing called love? She couldn't answer that. So eventually, she just shrugged.

"I don't know."

At that moment, the waitress brought over her slice of cake. Kyouko thanked her, and then played with the small fork absently, poking it into the icing.

"Why do you want to know anyway?"

"Because, this is what sisters do. Or sister-like friends, anyway. "

"What….what about brothers?" Kyouko asked cautiously.

"Well, I pestered him, sure, and we trusted each other because we're siblings and all. But it's just different and…." Komaru trailed off. "Yeah. It's different."

"Sorry."

"What for? In an ideal world, I'd have both of you, then I'd have a brother and a sister. More fun for me! But what happened, happened. At least I have you. BUT ANYWAY, that was a good subject change, but not good enough!"

Kyouko shook her head and laughed.

"That wasn't an intentional subject change…I genuinely wouldn't know, how to answer your question. It feels like it just kind of happened, in a way. "

When Komaru did not immediately say anything, Kyouko took the time to start to actually eat her cake.

"Sonosuke would like this." She remarked after a few mouthfuls. Komaru giggled at that.

"Okay, that tells me a little bit. In which case….does he make you happy? Does he look after you?"

"I think it's more apt to say that we look after each other. But yes."

Komaru nodded in satisfaction, her grin growing wider again.

"And has he seen your hands? "

"Yes."

Komaru's jaw dropped.

"Seriously? And it took you, what, a _full year_ to show _me_? A bit longer than that?"

Kyouko simply nodded at that, but she was suddenly overtaken by guilt and doubt. Was it wrong, that she'd come to trust him quicker than she had the girl who'd all but adopted her as a sister? Logically speaking, they were two different people, and the relationships she had with them were different. The two shouldn't even be comparable.

 _But…_

"Onee-Chan, are you alright? I didn't mean that to come out like it did." Komaru blinked at her anxiously.

"But…that was your decision, right? To show your hands to Izayoi-san? He didn't pressure you to or anything along those lines?"

Kyouko thought of herself and Sonosuke, sitting cross-legged on the bed facing each other on the day she'd shown him her hands. How he'd picked up each one and studied them one at a time, sadness rippling over his face as he did so, but without any sign of horror or disgust or disbelief. Of how the only question he'd asked while examining her hands was if they still hurt her anymore, a question so quiet and cautious she'd had to lean in to catch it. And how once he had finished, he'd simply taken her left hand and gently pressed it against his cheek, saying nothing but conveying immense gratitude all the same.

"It was my choice." She stated confidently. The moment the words left her mouth, Komaru's worried expression melted away, replaced by a smile.

"In which case, perfect. That's all I need to know. "

Kyouko raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what she meant by that. Catching the unspoken question, Komaru beamed, and leaned back in her chair.

"Yes, I meant that. That really is all I needed to know. As for _want_ to know….I hope you two aren't disturbing everyone else in the Future Foundation building."

"Disturb?" Kyouko asked. Komaru just grinned at her and waited. A moment passed before Kyouko noticed the cheeky glint in the younger woman's eyes, and suddenly she realised what she was hinting at. Almost instantly, she let out a groan and covered her face in embarrassment. But of course, that did nothing for the blush rapidly creeping up her cheeks.

"That's not…I think now would be a good time for an _actual_ subject change, Komaru." She said with forced calmness.

Komaru laughed at her for a good few moments, but thankfully she _did_ change the subject after that.

 **…**

Just from looking at the flowers left there, Kyouko could tell who had come to visit the graveyard recently. For example, Togami always mass-brought fancy, professionally-done seasonal bouquets, one for every gravestone. Munakata (and by extension, Sakakura, since she knew they always visited together), tended towards paler, larger and more elegant flowers, the bulk of which were for Yukizome, and the rest for the other Future Foundation members, as well as the last Hope's Peak Student council.

On the other hand, Komaru preferred smaller, busier and brighter bunches, which she left for Naegi, and anyone else whom she remembered him talking about. Sonosuke only ever left flowers on one gravestone, and that bouquet was all different shades of pink, all soft and pretty, and tied simply with a matching ribbon. The others, too, had their own personal tendencies when it came to bringing flowers for the dead who lay there, all unique and recognisable.

As for Kyouko herself-she tended towards daisies. English, Shasta, Oxeye, Painted or Gerbera-she didn't mind which ones, and often mixed a good few of the varieties each time. But always, she went for daisies, as if to match the field of them that had started growing between the extensive graveyard and the building that had been Hope's Peak.

 _It's gotten bigger._

Kyouko noted this as she came in that day, wrapping her coat around herself a little tighter as the wind whipped through the field. It wasn't quite overgrown yet, and in fact looked quite merry, but the daisy field had definitely gained a mind of its own, and wasn't about to stop growing anytime soon. She quite liked it.

Turning away from the daisy field for a moment, she studied the graves and noted the flowers left at each stone in her usual way, discerning who had been there last. Togami hadn't been for a while, as the bouquets he had left were starting to wilt. Munakata had been recently, though Komaru hadn't, and she spotted evidence of a few other visits, all varying in how recent they were.

And it did not take her long to spot that recognisable burst of pink at Andou's gravestone, but oddly, for the first time ever, she spotted another similar colour burst elsewhere. Over by the rows which had been designated to the 78th Class victims. At the stone which marked Naegi's grave.

It had been her idea to put him here, instead of with the other Future Foundation Killing Game victims-to bury him with the classmates he had treasured, and specifically next to Maizono. Even the four other remaining members of their old class hadn't been able to wrap their heads around why she would have insisted on such a thing, but she still stood by it, and was glad that she had. As far as visits and grieving went, it didn't change a thing. Wherever he was buried, he was still mourned, and still visited. And more people asides from her left flowers. But never, ever, had there been any pink flowers.

 _Could it be…..?_

She wondered if she was seeing things, but sure enough, when she got there and knelt down, the pink flowers were indeed the very same ones that usually only ever graced Andou's gravestone. It was just a few flowers, and they looked as if they'd been pulled from the usual bouquet. But still, they were there.

 _Thank you._

She wouldn't mention it to him, and neither would he say anything to her. It was just their thing-they shared most other aspects of their lives now, but the graveyard visits were always something that they did alone, a portion of their pain that they needed to process solo. Apart from a simple question of 'did you go today?' on the most important dates, it was simply something they did not share. Not that it mattered-after all, they shared most other things.

 _And apparently that now includes flowers._

Smiling, she put down her carrier bag and pulled out one of her bunches of daisies, before carefully taking a few out, and putting them aside. Then, she took ahold of the few pink flowers, and carefully tucked them into the daisy bundle, and arranged it in front of the gravestone, so that the flower sharing could clearly be seen. Then, after dusting down her skirt, she got up and went over to Andou's grave, knelt down again, and tucked the few stray daisies from her first bunch into that pretty pink bouquet, retying the ribbon with care. Then, as she had with the other bunch, she placed it so that her handiwork would clearly be seen, before standing up and admiring her work for a moment.

And then, inevitably, her gaze drifted to Kizakura's gravestone, and her heart grew heavier again.

Mind flashing with memories that seemed to contradict each other, the way they always did, she dragged her feet slightly as she walked over, and simply stood there, staring down at the stone.

" _Kirigiri-Chan, Kirigiri-Chan, you might have grown up all ice-like, but I still know you well. It was easy to read it off you."_

 _She remained silent and simply glared, still slightly taken aback by the slightly insane laughter he had emitted._

" _And that was enough to drive you into despair?" Munakata asked him. Kizakura groaned exaggeratedly. ._

" _How many times do I need to say it? I'm not infected. I never was. Not everything is despair."_

" _Then what?" The tip of the blade came a little closer to his face. Kizakura gulped, and for the first time seemed a little conscious-possibly even remorseful-of what he had done_

" _Oh, many, many things. But I got what I wanted, anyway. "_

"Really?" she murmured, in the present. "Did you really?"

Glaring at the stone, she took a few deep breaths.

"If you knew me so well, didn't you know that it was better to leave me be?"

It was a question she always asked, each and every time. And though she was a believer in the dead having much to say, she knew that in this context they couldn't talk. So she got no answer. But still, she was driven to ask it, each and every time.

"And…."

 _Is this really what you wanted? Me, as I am, now?_

Still glaring, she reached in her carrier bag for the other bunch of daisies, and bent down to place it in front of the stone. Carefully, she arranged it, and then stood up again, and regarded her work.

"Kizakura-san…."

Childish laughter drifted from over the railings that separated the graveyard and the daisy field from the road, and she turned, startled. But whoever it was seemed to be far enough that she could not see them. But in their place, she saw herself as a little girl, being lifted into the air by her father and being so thrilled that she was learning to fly. It hurt.

 _Look at me, look at me!_

"Is this…..?" she played with her bracelet. "Is this what you wanted?"

Waiting, and watching, she sighed, and turned away. For now, she was finished-but she didn't want to leave, not just yet. So she wandered up to where the daisy field started, and stared over at the Hope's Peak building. From where she was, it looked so small and insignificant. And she knew, from having visited it a few times since escaping, that it was hollowed out, empty and deteriorating. Hope's Peak's reign was fully and truly over. But the building still stood. Nobody was using it (and who would want to?), but nobody wanted to get rid of it yet, either.

She felt the same.

 _Is this what you wanted?_

She checked the time, and turned away from the daisies. There were tasks to carry out, appointments to attend, work to do generally. So, stuffing the now-empty carrier bag into her coat pocket, she took one more glance at the gravestones and their flowers, before walking away.

 **…**

As Kyouko took the two shopping bags to the new kitchen, Aoi came in behind her carrying two boxes.

"That's the last of all the boxes." Aoi told her. "These ones are marked 'kitchen', so should I leave them on the table or…?"

"It would have been fine if you'd left them by the stairs with the rest, but since you brought them there, yes, please." Kyouko replied, putting her own bags there as well. Aoi complied, then bounced around the table to hug her.

"Okay, I've gotta rush off now, but I'll see you later."

"Of course." Carefully, Kyouko returned the hug. "See you later, Aoi-san. Thank you for the help."

"No problem!"

Aoi zipped off, and Kyouko heard her greet Sonosuke and Sakakura, who appeared a few moments later carrying the fridge.

"Over there." She pointed to the space where presumably the fridge the previous owners used had been, anticipating the question, and they carried it over, carefully setting it down and adjusting its position. When they were satisfied with where it was standing, and that it was safe, she went over to help with plugging it in properly, and switching it on. Then, she started to put away the food that she'd brought.

"Why not just do something like have take-out for the next few days while you get everything sorted? It's going to be a bit of a mess, otherwise, isn't it?" Sakakura asked afterwards, hands on hips as he regarded them critically.

"Most of what's in the fridge is ready-meals anyway." Sonosuke pointed out. Sakakura huffed and shrugged.

"Right, whatever, let's get on with the rest of the things. "

So they spent a couple of hours carrying things in and setting them in the right place. Luckily, it wasn't too much, as the previous owners had left some furniture, so they hadn't had to buy everything. Mostly it was smaller items that they'd needed, and appliances.

"That's all, then?" Sakakura asked as they went back into the living room.

"Yeah, pretty much. Now it's just all the boxes." Sonosuke replied.

"Which _you_ can deal with. That's all your personal stuff, I'm not touching that."

Kyouko chuckled and shook her head at that.

"No, this is more than enough. Do you want something to drink?"

Sakakura made a dismissive gesture with his good hand, and shook his head, smiling.

"Nah, nah, that's fine." He answered. "Say, do you want me to take that?"

Kyouko frowned, and she and Sonosuke looked over at where he was pointing. It was the television stand, something else the previous owners had left behind. One of the few things that wouldn't be useful for them here, for very obvious reasons. So Kyouko was about to agree, when Sonosuke cut her off.

"No, it's fine."

They both gawped at him, and he shrugged self-consciously.

"I can repurpose it into something. A set of drawers, I'm thinking at the moment. Then maybe you can take it. Keep it in your office or something."

"How the hell do you look at that and see a set of drawers?" Sakakura asked incredulously. Sonosuke just shrugged at that, and Kyouko could not help but smile.

"Ah, whatever. Do what you like. "Sakakura eventually concluded, shrugging. "I may as well head off myself, now. I'll see you at work on Monday then-ah, speaking of which, you remember the meeting?"

"The one Munakata-san asked us to?" Kyouko asked.

"Yeah, that one. Don't forget it, okay?"

"Don't worry, Sakakura-san, we won't. I'll let you out. Thanks for helping us."

"Ah, it's no big deal."

Kyouko went to let Sakakura out, and then came back to the living room.

"Okay, so…..what now? Start unpacking, or...?"

"What do you want to do, Kyouko?"

She considered this briefly.

"What if we do the curtains in here, and then concentrate on unpacking the things we need for our bedroom? That should take up the rest of the day, and then that's the most important things put into place. "

"Then we can do all of the rest tomorrow. Okay," Sonosuke nodded carefully. "That works for me. Though, actually, while I'm at it, I'll take that down to the basement with some of the other stuff that needs to go down there."

"Do you want any help with that?"

"No, no, I'm fine." Sonosuke went over to pick up the stand, and then left the room. Kyouko considered the space for a moment. It looked a little empty there, but she supposed she would soon fail to notice this once they'd lived there for a while. Perhaps another sofa could go there. They had enough really, for the two of them and then a couple of guests. But they had more friends than that.

 _This is strange._

She shook her head, and then left the living room and searched the hallway until she found where the package with all their curtain sets were, and found the one that had the curtains for the living room and brought it in, and sat down on one of the sofas to undo it, before remembering that they would need a ladder, and so she got up and went back out to the landing.

Sonosuke came out of the basement at the same time, and without a word went straight to help her. They managed to put up the curtains without too much problem, but getting the ladder up the stairs again was a little bit of a battle, to the point where Sonosuke jokingly wondered aloud if they shouldn't have got Sakakura to stay instead, but somehow they were able to get it up there and into their bedroom.

Then they were able to put up the curtains that needed putting up there too, before leaving it in the box room that would never be anything but a storage space. After that, they went straight onto dealing with everything else- making the bed, hanging their clothes in the cupboard, laying out the prettily patterned rugs Komaru had given them, putting everything else where it needed to be.

After a few hours, the room was starting to look more theirs, as if now it was really becoming their house, and Kyouko stepped back and contemplated it all.

 _I like this. I like this a lot. But…_

Her eyes alighted on the chest of drawers opposite the bed, near to the door. She'd filled the drawers with their smaller clothing items (such as socks), and the remaining sets of bedsheets and a few other miscellaneous items, but they'd put nothing on the top of it yet. Which didn't seem quite right.

 _Maybe that snow globe thing that Aoi-san got for us last year? No, wait, I have a better idea._

She went over, and grabbed one of the boxes that they hadn't got to yet, kneeling down and tearing it open, before carefully pulling out the items she needed, and standing up again, putting each of them down on top of the chest of drawers, then going back to push the box aside.

"Sonosuke, where are those fake flowers that Yamanabe-san bought for us? You know, the small, really bright, decorative ones?"

"Probably still in a box downstairs. Have you thought of something to do with them? Do you want me to get them for you?"

"If you could, please."

When he had come back with them, she took them and started to arrange them along with the things that she had already taken out. Sonosuke, intrigued, went and sat on the edge of the bed and watched her as she worked. Since she was partially improvising, it took her a few tries, but when she was done, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction, and turned to Sonosuke with pride.

"Well, what do you think?"

He blinked, slowly, and got up, walking over and studying it carefully. The four photographs she had found-her parents, his, Naegi and Andou- she had arranged them so that the frames that held Naegi's and Andou's images were in the centre, and the other two more at the edges. Around that, she'd found two vase-like containers and stuffed some of the flowers into them, and then twisted the remaining ones into a sort of chain, and using them to decorate the entire thing.

"...I would have been fine, just keeping them in the box, or perhaps downstairs, once I've cleaned up the basement enough to set up there."

"No, that wouldn't have been fine."

Sonosuke stared, and then abruptly wrapped his arms around her and drew her in, almost squeezing her with the strength of feeling he was putting into it. She returned the hug wordlessly, but contentedly.

When Izayoi stepped back, he studied her for a moment, and then doubt flickered.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, you didn't." She was used to this, so when the concern didn't dissipate, she held out her hands, demonstrated that she could move just fine.

"See? I'm alright. "She reassured. "I'm alright."

Sonosuke nodded slowly, and some of the doubt and concern started to fade away. She waited, knowing that he was thinking about being back there, about wrenching the knife away from Andou and accidentally breaking her wrist in the process, an injury that would have been healable if it wasn't for the million others he hadn't been able to prevent at all.

And she knew that he was thinking this because with her own regrets, she had similar problems. Perhaps rationally, somewhere deep and almost inaccessible, they both knew that what had happened hadn't been their fault entirely, but to truly believe it and act on it was a different matter. So this, waiting it out, helping him out, was an easy matter for her.

"You're not there anymore, okay?" She murmured, making sure to meet his eyes. "You're not there."

Eventually, Sonosuke relaxed, and managed to smile.

"You sound a little like Sakakura, but calmer and softer."

"Well, that's good to know." Kyouko said drily, relieved that he was 'back' as it were. His smile widened, and he rubbed the back of his head absently.

"Yes, well…." He sighed, and anticipating what he was going to say, she cut him off kindly.

"It's fine. In any case, we're almost finished here anyway, so we could take a break soon." She suggested, stepping around him to pick up one of the boxes. After a moment, he joined her, and they made quick work of the remaining unpacking.

"We've done a good job, haven't we?" Sonosuke asked, as they stood back and regarded the room about half-an-hour later. Standing slightly behind her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she reached up to cover one of his hands with her own as she looked around.

"I think we have. "She agreed. "It looks a bit more…."

 _Home-like? No, that's not the right word. Cosy? Happier?_

 _No, wait, I have it. Ours. It looks a bit more like it's ours. A place for us._

"Like what it was meant to be. A new start for us." Sonosuke filled in as she thought this. She twisted around to look at him as she considered this.

"I think it's more…..the start of a new start." She suggested. "Oh!"

She slipped out of Sonosuke's hold as something occurred to her.

"What's wrong, Kyouko?"

She didn't initially answer as she went over to their wardrobe, and reached down to where she had stashed the box of Kizakura's personal effects, and pulled it out. Digging through, she found what she was looking for right at the bottom, and pulled it out.

"Kyouko?"

Understandably, Sonosuke's puzzled frown turned to a more worried one when he saw what she was holding.

"It's fine. I'll just be a moment."

Of course, as she left the bedroom and headed to the bathroom, Sonosuke followed her, but as she went straight to the sink, he remained at the doorway, and she could feel his eyes on her. Intense, and waiting.

First, she unscrewed the lid, set it down on the side of the sink, in the little depression where a soap bar would soon go. And then she paused, and stared, mentally tracing the engraving on the side, wondering what had gone through Kizakura's mind when he'd gone to get it done. And what had been going through his mind when he had looked at it for the last time. Perhaps it would be better to leave things as they were, so that she would feel what he might have felt to be pushed to the lengths he had gone to-

 _Do it. Just do it!_

Hands trembling, she tipped the flask upside down, and waited. After a few moments, the golden-brown liquid started to drip out, in a small, slow trickle. She watched it escape, and gradually decline, until nothing more dripped out. She shook it a few times, and a few drops shook their way out when she did that, but it didn't take long for it to be completely empty. But that still wasn't enough.

With exaggeratedly controlled movements, she turned on the cold water tap, and watched it wash away the trickles of bourbon in the sink. Then, she stuck the flask underneath the running water, let it fill, then tipped out the water and repeated the gesture, over and over again.

 _It's not enough._

After a few times, she suspected that she would have done more than enough to achieve what she had wanted to here. But still, she felt that it wasn't enough. So she continued-fill, pour out, repeat, over and over again. She repeated it over and over again, but it wasn't enough.

She had forgotten he was there, but just as she had poured out the water and was about to refill the flask again, Sonosuke crossed the bathroom in a quick stride and closed the tap brusquely. Wildly, she looked up, but he said nothing as he concentrated carefully unwrapped her fingers from around the flask, and then set it down on the side, before screwing the lid back on.

She opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by the sensation of her feet leaving the ground as he scooped her up gently and carried her back to their room, carefully letting her down on their newly made bed, before going back to the bathroom to get the flask.

"I'm putting it on top of the box." He said simply when he returned. "You can put it back inside later on."

He came over to the bed too, and lay down beside her, turning so he was on his side, facing her.

"What brought that on?" he murmured, stroking her hair. Not wanting to meet his eyes, she clung to his jumper, and tried to pull together words that would explain it.

"Because….because this is the start of a new beginning. For us together, and for us as separate people. I didn't…I didn't want to have that happen here."

Naturally, he didn't need to ask her what 'that' was.

"But it wasn't enough, to start afresh. It isn't enough."

"It was enough. I checked it for you, the flask is clean. You won't need to go through that again, even if you do still have the nightmares themselves. "

"That's not what I meant. It's not enough, to say that I've been able to start over properly. Because if I'd really been able to do that, then…"

Words drying up, she simply let go of his jumper, and showed him her hand with the bracelet on it. When he didn't say anything, she hesitantly looked up, and saw nothing but understanding.

 _What else would you have expected? It's Sonosuke, after all._

She bit her lip as she felt her eyes fill, and her vision blurred as he pulled her close to him in a careful embrace.

"You don't need to do it all at once." He said as her tears quietly soaked his jumper. "Didn't you once say that to me?"

"Mhm."

She remembered that particular day. Thinking that Sonosuke would be in the workshop all afternoon, someone had taken the cover off of the television screen in the shared offices, so that they could watch the news while working. But since he'd had paperwork of his own that needed processing, he'd ended up coming up, and thus had been caught unawares, triggering a panic attack.

Kyouko had reached him well before he'd reached a stage where he might have damaged the screen, but the severity had been enough to feel like a setback to him, and he'd been particularly morose about it. Pointing out that cure or recovery didn't need to happen all at once had been one of the ways in which she'd sought to reassure him. Apparently, it had stuck well enough that now he was happy to use the same advice on her, something which she found amusing enough that she chuckled despite her current mood.

"There we are." Sonosuke encouraged. "It's fine, see? It's enough for _now_."

"Mhm."

They remained like that for a few moments, and then he let go of her and sat up.

"I think maybe we should think of something else, for now, but while we're still on the topic of new starts, I may as well try to end it on a lighter note."

Kyouko blinked, confused, and one side of Sonosuke's mouth quirked up as he observed this.

"I have something for you." He said, reaching into his trouser pocket. "It's in here somewhere…ah."

He produced a small, slightly satiny purple pouch with a ribbon for a drawstring. It looked a bit like something that would hold bath crystals or pot-pourri, but this bag was slightly opaque, so she couldn't tell. As she sat up, he handed it to her, and when she gave him a curious look, just nodded. So carefully, she opened it and reached in. Feeling something small and circular, she drew it out, and just stared.

She was holding a ring. A small ring, consisting of a slim gold band, set with a small but very shiny round diamond, but unadorned asides from that. It did not take a genius to figure out the significance of it.

"Second chance, not second best." He stated quietly, by way of explanation.

"I remember you saying that to me before." She murmured, examining the ring from all angles.

"I still mean it. Even though…." Sonosuke paused, and Kyouko followed his gaze to the chest of drawers, and the photographs on it.

"Even though….there's things we can't let go of….someone else we're going to keep on loving anyway, there's still a lot to be said for a second chance. And getting to know you better over all this time…..there's no-one else I'd rather take my second chance with. So…marry me?"

Kyouko instantly thought of all those moments at his bedside, waiting for him to wake up. How it had felt to have to tell him Andou hadn't made it, only to see his fight ebb away for a second time. The words she'd whispered to him just days before he'd finally woken up properly. She still did not fully know why it was she'd invested so much in him back then, but with everything that had come afterwards….

…. _there's no-one else I'd rather take my second chance with, either._

She said this to him, watched him turn back to her and smile slowly, and smiled back. Then, she looked back at the ring in her hand.

"Will it fit over my glove?" she wondered.

"I'm not sure, but I tried to take that into account when I was designing it."

It did not surprise her in the least to learn that he had made it. Carefully, she slid it onto her finger, but sure enough, her gloves proved an inconvenience. And of course, she wasn't about to take them off.

"Ah, oh well." Sonosuke didn't look disappointed. "I had a feeling that might be the case. But I thought of something for that."

"You did?"

"Check the bag." He told her. Kyouko frowned at it, having completely forgotten the small silky bag. She picked it up and turned it upside down in her palm, only to blink in surprise as a slim silvery chain fell out. Studying it more closely, she noticed that the metal had a very slight purple tinge to it.

"That wasn't my own making, unfortunately."

"No, no, this is..." Kyouko shook her head in amazement, and then proceeded to string the ring onto the chain. , before reaching up to put it around her neck.

"Here." Sonosuke leaned over and helped to do up the clasp of the chain. Kyouko then adjusted it, making sure the chain was not twisted or anything like that, and looked down at herself.

"Well?"

"I say that looks perfectly fine."

"Good." She fiddled with it a little more, and smiled. Then, she contemplated the bracelet still around her wrist, and sighed.

"It feels like I should let go of this now. But…"

"If there's a 'but', then don't. " Sonosuke told her, matter-of-factly. "What you've done already is enough for now."

"Hmm…"

 _Can I say that I'm living now? That I'm living? It feels like it, but not completely. Not yet. So….maybe I'm in the process. Nearly there, but not quite. That's….alright too, isn't it?_

"I suppose you're right. Okay." She let herself relax, then checked the time on the wall clock they'd put up.

"Shall we eat and call it a day, or do a little more first?"

"Eat." Sonosuke said with little hesitation, getting up and heading to the door. "I'm kind of hungry."

For some reason, this made Kyouko laugh as she got up to follow him.

"Sonosuke, you're _always_ hungry."

 **…**

"A school?"

Kyouko looked at the plans in front of her, then looked up at Munakata, tilting her head curiously. When Munakata had asked her and Sonosuke for this meeting, she hadn't imagined it would be for something like this.

"Yes. " Munakata needed no prompt to explain. "We're going to open a school, on the site where Hope's Peak Academy used to be. We'll be using the same building, given that it's still standing, but we'll be doing a complete overhaul of it."

"I…I see."

In all honesty, she wasn't sure that she did. She decided that it was best not to mention that though.

"It's going to use the same site and building, but it's not going to _be_ Hope's Peak. That would be ridiculous, given what happened the first time around." Sakakura explained. "It will be _different_. No Main Course and Reserve Course, no SHSL titles. None of that."

"In other words, a fairer system." Munakata added. "A way of starting again, turning over a new leaf."

"Because Hope's Peak is the only thing left here that hasn't tried to atone for its sins."

All three of them turned to look at Sonosuke. His face was still and calm, but he was sitting just a tad too straight, and his hands were curled into tight fists on the table.

"A building can't atone." Sakakura snorted. "It's a _building_."

It wasn't Sakakura's fault that the only room available for use had a screen on the wall that hadn't been covered, and he had tried to help by chucking his jacket over it when he'd arrived, but still, Kyouko found herself jumping in a little defensively.

"I think he was being metaphorical. Given that Hope's Peak was where everything began."

Sakakura huffed, but Sonosuke's posture relaxed slightly, and he was able to muster a smile.

"Regardless of all that." Munakata stated, turning attention back to him. "That's what I would like to do, if possible. And I'd like you all to help me."

"In what sense?" Kyouko asked.

"Well….to be my team. I'm going to be the Principal, to be sure, but I don't want to lead a school alone. I need it to be a joint effort."

"I'm going to take care of the security. It'll feel good, being the head of something again. Though regardless, I'd be standing by Kyosuke's decisions here." Sakakura said.

"But I'll admit, I'm not too sure about you two. Izayoi, you could probably help me with the security, I reckon. Second in command."

"In your case, Kirigiri-san, I was considering the idea of Deputy Principal. We haven't had an abundance of opportunities to do so, but I believe that we could work together." Munakata added.

Kyouko and Sonosuke exchanged looks. She nodded at him, conveying that she was liking the general idea so far. He hesitated, but did nod back, and started to relax slightly.

"What…what about teaching?" Sonosuke asked, eventually. Munakata raised an eyebrow.

"You want to teach, specifically?"

"The way I already do from time to time. I could…I could probably do that. "

"Yeah, you're pretty decent as a teacher, I reckon…Yoi-sensei." Sakakura agreed.

"Thank you." Sonosuke smiled, a little more freely this time.

"Still, wouldn't we have the option of teaching classes anyway, if we could fit it in around our duties?" Sakakura continued on. "Not that I'm quite prepared to do that….."

Sakakura rubbed the back of his head bashfully, and Munakata and Kyouko chuckled.

"Yes, of course." Munakata answered. "That does make sense. How about training teachers yourself, somewhere down the line? It wouldn't be a duty you'd be able to pick up straight away-none of us would, but in time, that could be a possibility. Having our very own teacher trainer on-site would be a huge advantage."

"I think that's a good idea, Sonosuke." Kyouko murmured. He frowned for a moment, and then nodded, slowly, his face clearing.

"Alright then. I'll do that, and be Sakakura's second-in-command in the meantime."

"And what about you, Kirigiri? Do you have any ideas about what any other roles you'd want to take on?"

 _I don't know. Why me, in the first place?_

"I'd imagine being a Deputy Principal would be plenty." Kyouko answered. She paused, and considered.

"But any other way I could help, I would."

"Alright then." Munakata scribbled the different points down on one of the plans.

"I have a question though, Munakata-san."

"Yes?" Munakata looked up and waited.

"Are you not going to ask anyone else here to be on the staff? Will it be just us?"

"No, of course not. I will be approaching others, too, for assistance with various aspects, including the renovation. And if all goes well, we should be able to start advertising for and recruiting teachers and the like. However, the creation of the school, the management of it, the responsibility of making sure that it does what it is aiming to do…that will be down to us."

 _So, we'll be the heart of the school._

"But why are we the ones at the heart of it all? Why us, specifically?" Sonosuke asked, taking Kyouko's metaphor as though he had read it from her mind. Which in a way, he probably had.

There was a long silence at that, broken only by Sakakura clearing his throat.

"Well," he said, his face reddening slightly. "Probably we're the best placed to make this work, because we're the ones who need it the most. Y'know?"

This resulted in yet another long silence.

 _The ones who need it the most._

As the years had gone by, the world had started to right itself, and now gradually, the whole reason the Future Foundation had been created in the first place was slowly becoming lost. They were downsizing, and others in the foundation were leaving, or making preparations to, whether through finding a new job, or moving to another area, or marrying and starting families. Togami himself was in the process of preparing the building they were in for his own business activities, given that he had been steadily rebuilding his own assets too.

And for people like them, who had coped with their traumas by hitching everything they had onto the Future Foundation in one way or another, the coming changes were undeniable, even as they continued on the way they had been, as far as was possible.

Taking charge of Hope's Peak, making it into a completely different sort of school. That, too, would be work. Something else that she could throw herself into. Something for all of them to hitch everything they had onto, once the Future Foundation was no more. So that they would not be floating and anchor-less. They were definitely the ones who needed something like this the most.

 _Is that enough, though?_

"And I wanted something like this before, actually. It was a dream of mine." Munakata admitted after a moment, almost rivalling Sakakura for bashfulness.

"But it disappeared so quickly, after everything. I didn't think it'd come true, I just assumed it was something of before and that is where it would stay….but now the possibility is there, I'd like to have the chance to try again. To see if I really can do it."

"Of course you can, Kyosuke! Don't be ridiculous." Sakakura scoffed. Munakata smiled at that.

"I see. That makes sense to me, actually." Sonosuke murmured, looking wistful. Without looking at anyone in particular, he reached for Kyouko's hand, and held on tightly. She gripped it back. After all, they understood it well, these sorts of feelings.

And perhaps in her case it was almost fitting. Her father had been involved in Hope's Peak, and now she'd be involved in the new school. Maybe this sort of running away and hiding in education was a Kirigiri trait of sorts, just as much as being a detective was meant to be.

 _No. Not like that. You're not running away from anything, or abandoning anything but the past. You're running_ towards _it all. Towards a life._

Still, it was hard to ignore the parallels that were flagging up in her head, and they stung, a little, as she played with the bracelet around her wrist. But as she thought of all the different qualities they'd be able to bring to the table to make the idea work, the increasing warmth she felt towards the idea lessened the sting. It was something that they all needed. And perhaps it would be enough to make it worth.

 _It'll be fine. Besides, by the time the school's up and running, you won't be a Kirigiri by name anymore, just by blood. That's not nearly as much of a shackle._

She left the bracelet alone, and went to the ring hanging on the chain around her neck. Even through the leather of her gloves, she felt the coolness of the ring. It was comforting.

"Well, then." Munakata cleared his throat, and Kyouko realised that they'd all been silently contemplating things for a little while. Each of them with their own separate ghosts and regrets, trying to reconcile them with life. She let go of the ring, and looked back at him.

 _Yes. This is part of the solution_

"Before we move on to the more in-depth plans, can I just confirm that I have everyone's agreement on this?"

"Obviously!"

"Yes, you do."

"Definitely."

It was not as though there could be any other answer.

 **…**

After sending off the email, Kyouko leaned back in her office chair, and contemplated things for a moment. She had a third-year class- one of the few classes she taught-after lunchtime, but there was a while until then. There was also the remainder of her lunch to be finished, and a book that Fukawa had lent to her. She suspected that those two things would be sufficient to fill up the time.

Or at least, she'd assumed so, until someone knocked at the door.

"Come in!" she called out. A few seconds later, the door edged open, and a female student poked her head around hesitantly, before stepping in, followed by three more-two girls and a boy. Based on the colour of the detailing around the necklines, cuffs and hems of their school jumpers, the boy and the older girl were both fourth years, whereas the other two girls were only first years. The boy shut the door behind them, and when he turned back around, Kyouko realised that she recognised him.

"Takeshi-kun, it's good to see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine thanks, Sensei." Takeshi replied, as he followed the three girls to stand in front of her desk.

"Oi, Aoba-sempai, how come Deputy Principal Izayoi calls you by your first name?" One of the younger girls asked quietly, looking a little astonished. Kyouko decided to wait for him to explain. Though it wasn't many, it was inevitable that each year's intake of new students naturally would include some of the children Sonosuke had taken under his wings for lessons in various crafts.

"I used to do stuff with Yoi-sensei when I was a kid." Takeshi explained to her calmly. "I ended up seeing sensei there a lot too, because, you know."

"Ohh, I see." The girl nodded, her purple pigtails bobbing slightly with the motion.

"So, what brings you here?" Kyouko asked. "Has something happened?"

"No, no, no, Sensei!" Takeshi was quick to reassure. "We're making a club, and we were just wondering if you'd be willing to be our club's advisor. "

"I…see…" Kyouko said carefully. "I'm…not against that on principle. However, have you considered asking another teacher, perhaps your homeroom teacher…..?"

Kyouko mentally went through her memory of the lists of the current fourth and first years when the fourth-year girl spoke up.

"I'm Miyuki Sawamura, I'm in the same class as Aoba, 4B." She then pointed to the first year girl who happened to resemble her strongly with her curly honey-coloured hair and oval shaped dark eyes.

"That's my little sister, Masaki, and her friend is Futaba Abe." She continued. "They're both in 1A."

"Ahh."

 _So that rules out Wakahisa-san, because of the football team and the swimming team. But then…._

"The homeroom teacher for 1A is Nakazawa-sensei. I know she's generally supportive in helping to advise after school clubs. Have you not asked her? "

"We _have_ asked her." Abe said. "But after we told her about the idea, she said that it would probably be better to ask you, even though it's a longshot. Because you would probably be better at advising on a club like this one."

"And….what sort of club is this?"

 _I probably should have asked this first._

"It's a detective's club." Masaki Sawamura said simply, her voice clearly one that was naturally quiet.

"The New Hope Academy's first ever Detective Club." Takeshi proclaimed. Kyouko blinked at that, and it took her a moment to be sure that she hadn't been hearing things.

 _Well then._

"Explain it to me then. This detective's club."

"Well, it's not that complicated a concept, I don't think." Miyuki Sawamura began confidently. "The idea is that we set up, and then people can come to us with mysteries that they need solving, or some other problem to resolve. Such as an important item or assignment that's gone missing, or trying to figure out why someone's best friend has stopped talking to them all of a sudden. Or maybe more generally, like if we suddenly get a case of serial pranking and the culprit needs apprehending. I know you and people like Sakakura-san and the rest of security would be onto something like that, but sometimes a different perspective could help, and that's where we could come in, I suppose? "

"And the ghosts! Well, not the _ghosts_ , as such. The Supernatural Studies Club can go ghost-hunting all they want. But the weird things that happen here sometimes, that people claim are ghosts of the people who, you know, died here years ago? It might be interesting to track down the not-so-supernatural reasons for those things." Takeshi added eagerly.

"If I had a little more time, I'd probably be curious to find out what's making people cry 'ghost, as well." Kyouko said dryly. "The past notwithstanding, we're not really old enough to be haunted. But in any case, is that about the sum of what the club would be doing, if it was allowed to run?"

"Yeah, pretty much" Abe shrugged. "I mean, it's more the everyday stuff. If a murder or something happened that'd be way more interesting, but as it is I reckon our investigations will be more mundane than that. "

"Futaba-Chan!" Masaki gasped.

"No." Kyouko said sharply, at the same time. All four students jumped, and Abe looked the guiltiest.

"You do not need someone to _die_ to provide a mystery to solve. And when it comes to a death, you would do well to remember that you're dealing with a lot more than something to satisfy your intellectual curiosity. Lives and feelings-they aren't something you play with like that."

Kyouko paused, and rubbed her head, thinking of all the dead she had seen, from Maizono to Oogami, from Yukizome to Andou, and Naegi, and Kizakura. And others from even before that.

 _It's not fair._

"Sorry, Deputy Principal." Abe spluttered, contrite.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Futaba-Chan puts her foot in her mouth, but she's not really that much of a ghoul." Miyuki added. Kyouko took a breath.

"In any case," she said levelly. "In the unlikely and tragic event there was such a death within these walls, I wouldn't allow any of the club members to go near it to be able to investigate in the first place."

The four blinked, and all looked at each other in confusion, before one by one, comprehension dawned on their faces and they turned back to her.

"Sensei, does this mean that….you are agreeing to be our advisor?"

"If you're going to be a help to the school by solving mysteries for people, I would like to be sure that it is done right." She stated, simply.

 _It would probably be nice to have the help too, from time to time._

"Thank you, sensei!" Takeshi exclaimed.

"Yeah, thanks, Deputy Principal." Miyuki added. Masaki and Futaba chimed in with the same.

"That's not a problem. Just a few things-do you have a club president yet, and how many members do you have confirmed?"

"I'll be the club president." Miyuki instantly produced a folded club application form and unfolded it to present to Kyouko. "As for members, at the moment, the confirmed members are the four of us. But, I have a friend in 4C who said she'd be interested if it went through, so her name's on there anyway. And Aoba's going to ask a couple of boys in our class who he thinks would want to join our ranks too-right, Aoba?"

"Yeah, that's right, though I need to ask them. I'm going to do that after school anyway." Takeshi agreed. "So that would make seven of us all together. That's more than enough, isn't it?"

"The minimum requirement is five, so yes, it is." Kyouko scanned the form, looking at the neat handwriting that had filled in most of the spaces. "Is Yue Fukugawa the name of your friend, Sawamura-san?"

"Yes, she is."

"Alright then." She put the form on her desk and straightened it out, considering it. Then, she picked up a pen, and scrawled her signature where it was required, before handing the form back to Miyuki.

"Get that to the office staff before lunch ends, and that should go through by next week. Then, we can talk about getting things started." She told them. Miyuki grasped it determinedly, and grinned as she bowed.

"Thank you so much. We'll do that then, and we won't take any more of your lunchtime up. "

"Bye, Deputy." Abe chirped, cheerful again as they left.

The others said their goodbyes as well, and Kyouko waited until they had gone and closed the door behind them before leaning back and allowing herself to grin. Of all the things, a detectives club. If she'd had a slightly more normal life, if she hadn't been born into the type of family she had been born into, but had still had the inclination towards mystery, would she have thought of doing something like that? There was no way to tell, but she suspected she might have tried.

 _Either way, I have high hopes for them._

Still smiling, she returned to eating her lunch, then glanced at the book. It looked like she wouldn't get to start the book now, which was a shame.

 _Oh well, It'll just have to join the pile of other unread ones at home then, won't it?_

 **…**

 _I never thought that I'd come here again._

Once the initial evidence had been gathered, she'd stayed well clear of the place the Future Foundation headquarters had once stood. All of them, the survivors of the game, had done so. Instead, they'd left it to Togami, Hagakure and the various other subordinates to go back and strip everything else from the building, to demolish it and then rebuild it to what it was now-an urban island, fit for people to live on.

It was a relatively small place, with a very small-town feel to it, but it was flourishing. It was a real melting-pot of a place, for though most of the population were Japanese, many from other cultures had made post-Tragedy homes and lives there. Walking down to the pier with everyone, she could see many interracial families, and all of them looked like typical families. If she hadn't been a part of it before, she wouldn't have known what it had been.

"Ah, it's scrubbed up really nicely here, hasn't it?" Aoi enthused as they looked around them.

"It's t-too cheerful." Fukawa snarked.

"Aww, don't be silly, Touko-Chan, there's no such thing! In any case, isn't it pretty, guys?"

"It is rather." Kyouko agreed.

"Yup, cool place, this is. I'm coming back here for the beach in the summer." Hagakure declared.

"There is no beach here. Man-made island, remember?" Fukawa retorted.

"Oh, yeah."

"There's plenty of tourist attractions here, in any case. Like most other islands, naturally." Togami put in. "They've become quite creative, here. No bad thing if this island wants to flourish."

"Are they not planting a small stretch of woodland on the other side of the island?" Kyouko remembered.

"Yes, that's right."

"Ah, perhaps we should go there then, the next time we have one of these reunions!" Aoi declared.

"Aww, man, could we not talk about the next one when we haven't even finished _this_ one?! I'm tired of all the walking." Hagakure whined.

"It's not even that far, just deal with it!" Togami rolled his eyes. "Besides, we're almost there."

"Also, it can't be helped that the main port is on the other side of the island." Kyouko added.

"As much as I'd love to put my feet up right about now, I have to agree." Aoi grinned.

After that, the five of them chatted about other random things until they reached where they were meant to go. A few islanders gave them curious looks, and a couple of very young children openly pointed, but though some gave smiles and greetings, they left them alone and went on with their lives.

 _And, here it is._

For a moment, she viewed things as they had been back then. Herself, having remained by the tents, suddenly taken over by a wave of coldness as she wrapped her arms around herself too tightly and watched the medical helicopter, while Aoi and Hagakure waved enthusiastically as the ship carrying the 77th Class disappeared, carrying them off to their new life, towards atonement.

 _Have they found it yet?_

Those people carried a lot of guilt themselves, a lot more justifiable than hers, or Sonosuke's, or even that of the four with her today. She wondered how they were dealing with it. If they were. Part of her hoped that they had found some sort of peace or were at least on the way there.

Or rather, she hoped those who had actually been Remnants had found it.

Perhaps she was biased, because she had helped Naegi to kidnap and try to rehabilitate them, and he had believed in them fully. To see them rallying around to try and help them, and even go so far as to condemn themselves further for their sakes-he would have been so, so pleased.

But Mitarai was a different story. Perhaps the things he'd actually done were so much lesser and indirect, and perhaps he had been victimised more than anything. But even so, she considered him the worst of them. If she were ever to see him again, she probably would not be able to hold herself back for what he had done. The damage he had caused. Though she was healing-though both she and Sonosuke were both healing-she'd never be able to forget it.

She would never forgive him for it, either.

"Hey, Kyouko-Chan, are you alright? You look a bit lost." Aoi frowned at her.

 _It's petty of me, but that's just how it is. That's fine though. Because I'm okay._

She took a deep breath, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Just….thinking."

"We all are." Togami stated, a little brusque. "It's only natural, considering. Hagakure, you managed to hold onto the flowers somehow, didn't you?"

"Sure I did, Togamicchi!" Hagakure saluted him, and handed out the white flowers that they had brought along for this occasion, a small bunch for each of them. White roses, and daisies.

"S-so, should someone say something about…anything? Before we do this?" Fukawa asked.

"What, do you mean like a speech?" Aoi asked. "About what, and for who?"

"Fukawacchi, you should come up with something! You're the literary one!" Hagakure suggested. Fukawa glared daggers at him.

"T-that doesn't make me a speech writer!" she protested. "Do we even need to say anything anyway?"

"Much as it pains me to admit it, Fukawa's right. We don't need to come up with any fancy speech to commemorate this. I'd suggest the opposite, actually, a minute of silence, before we throw the flowers out to sea."

Kyouko bit back a smirk, and nodded sagely.

"That seems like a good idea to me." She agreed. Fukawa and Hagakure glared at each other for a moment, but then they gave in, Fukawa clearly pleased with the idea because it was one her 'Byakuya-sama' more than any other reason. So, standing together, side by side in a line by the sea, they stared ahead of them reflectively, in that moment of silence.

Kyouko looked to her right, and Aoi grinned at her and winked. When she looked to the left, though, the space was empty. It technically did not surprise her, but still, she felt a jolt when she realised it. It simply was not right that Naegi was not with them anymore. They weren't just there to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Future Foundation killing game, but for the 78th Class one that had been a couple of years prior-a 10th anniversary that they'd inadvertently pass unmarked.

A game that Naegi had escaped, along with the five of them.

 _He should be the one standing here. I should have been the one who he looked for only to not see._

If the Future Foundation killing game hadn't been a thing, then perhaps she could have wished for all six of them to be there. But it had happened, so all she could wish for was the thing that should have happened, the one thing she had prepared for despite not wanting it.

 _But it happened. And the years have gone by._

10 years. Since Naegi and Kizakura had essentially conspired to save her, in circumstances that none of her skill could allow her to truly understand. Yet, now she helped to run a school, something that Naegi's idealism would have loved to see come to fruition. She had great work colleagues, and great friends. And she had a little family of her own, one that was set to expand. If she had been the one to die that night, she would have none of this.

Once, she'd thought she hadn't deserved any of that. But as those years had gone by and she'd gained each new thing and grown up just that little bit more, she wasn't so sure that was so true anymore.

 _It's okay to be happy now._

"Right, that's a minute!" Aoi announced, looking at her watch.

"Phew, that was hard!"

"You moron, Hagakure, that was literally only a minute! What's so bad about that?!"

Kyouko shook her head in amazement. Sometimes it was as if they had never changed. She was glad of it.

"The flowers, then?" she asked calmly.

"Sure!" Aoi grinned. "Togami, you ready?"

Togami adjusted his glasses and let out a long suffering sigh.

"If none of you are going to start another spat, then by all means. Has everybody got their flowers?"

When everyone confirmed that they had, Togami counted down from five, and then, in unison, they dropped their bunches of flowers into the water, and washed them gradually bob away. Kyouko's bunch split apart, and the flowers floated away from each other, which was the case with a couple of bunches. Roses, and daisies.

 _Daisies._

She thought of the daisy field that grew behind The New Hope Academy, of the graveyard that stood on the other side. Hopeful, and ever-growing, the inspiration for the school's logo. A place, which despite the sadness behind it, made her smile as she approached it each day.

 _What I've been looking for, all this time._

"I'm alive." She murmured, watching the flowers disappear. "And I'm living."

"What was that, Kyouko-Chan?"

Kyouko blinked, and looked at Aoi. Her hands were on her hips as she regarded Kyouko quizzically, and the others also watched her.

"Did you say something?" she asked, realising she'd been caught up in contemplation.

"We're talking about food!" Hagakure informed her. "We're still staying here for the rest of the day, so we figured that grabbing lunch would make sense-once we decide where to go."

"I hope we decide soon-I'm crazy hungry." Aoi put in.

"Why? You were eating on the boat here!" Fukawa spluttered.

"I'll remind you that I'm eating for two right now!" Aoi reminded her huffily, gesturing to her stomach. "But anyway, as long as we can get doughnuts, I don't care where we go-just as long as we decide where to go soon!"

Kyouko laughed at that. It was still too soon to be outwardly evident as it was with Aoi, but she too was 'eating for two', so to speak. But since she'd only found that out just a week before, she figured it could wait a few more minutes before she told her friends this. First, there was something else to do.

"Then we'll decide quickly. But there's something else I need to do first."

"What? We've already done the silence and the flowers, what else could there be?" Fukawa rolled her eyes.

Kyouko said nothing, and simply shook her bracelet off, letting it fall into the palm of her other hand. Gripping it by the black plastic tube, she made eye contact with Togami, who stared probingly before nodding.

"It's about time, too. Good on you."

 _Yes, it is._

"Huh, time for what?" Hagakure asked cluelessly. Fukawa and Aoi both sighed, and simply pointed. Kyouko held up the bracelet as extra clarification, and comprehension dawned on Hagakure's face, but he made no comment. Instead, he remained silent as Kyouko turned back to face the water, and weighed the bracelet in her hand.

It was so light, flimsy and insignificant and badly put together. She remembered the sleepless nights she had whiled away in making it wild eyed and bewildered, unable to understand how she'd put one foot in front of the other each moment, let alone how she'd live the rest of her life.

And she hadn't needed it. She hadn't needed such a painful reminder of what had happened. She would _always_ remember. Everything she did would always be in memory of them, but that didn't have to be the shackle it had been.

What had happened- it was saddening, but not crippling. Perhaps it could have been prevented, but she wasn't deserving of the blame. She was scarred, but not rendered hopeless. She had lost people who she'd counted as family at one point or another, but she was nowhere near alone in the world. And still, the only way left to go was forward, and the things that lay ahead of her were things she anticipated gladly.

 _I've figured it out now. How to be alive, and how to live._

Lifting her arm high in the air, she drew it back and then forcibly flung the bracelet into the sea, watching it arc through the air and then drop into the water with a splash, quickly disappearing. Lowering her arm, she felt something lift itself off her chest, and she sighed in relief.

 _At last._

"All right." She said, decisively. "Let's go."

"Awesome stuff!"

Aoi grabbed her hand, and linked arms with Fukawa, and then the five of them were off, cheerily discussing where they could sit down and have something to eat on this island, as well as what it was they should eat.

" _But I got what I wanted, anyway."_

For a moment, she was convinced the words had come from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder at the port, which was now becoming distant. But Kizakura was not standing there. To be expected, of course, but somehow it was disappointing.

 _You never did say what you wanted, Kizak-no, Uncle Kouichi. Uncle Kouichi. You never did say what it was that you wanted. But….if it is this, this moment I'm having here, with my friends, or the life I have now then….I suppose you did, didn't you?_

"Kyouko-Chan, you're slowing down!"

"Huh? What? Don't pull at her!"

"Yeah, Kyoukocchi, you are! Make sure we don't leave you behind!"

"We'll do no such thing, so don't be so ridiculous, Hagakure!"

"It's okay," Kyouko reassured them, smiling broadly. "I'm coming."

* * *

 **The New Hope Academy combines middle school and high school and puts them all in one, so in this, the 'fourth year' students are equivalent to first-year high-schoolers. I don't know why, but these days when inventing new schools for fics, I like to combine middle and high school. Also, the logo is two daisies next to each other, stems slightly overlapping.**

 **Also, though nobody really needs to know this, I have small child headcanons for the main pairing of this fic. The child Kyouko is pregnant with in this scene is a girl, and her name will be Rio, written with characters that give the name a meaning of 'reason to live'. There will be another child born a couple of years afterwards, also a girl, called Mirai. And I'm sure everyone knows what that means ^^**

 **So...anyway. That's this AU two-parter finished. I get that it was based off of a rather strange idea, but I hope you all enjoyed this fic anyway. And as always, please leave feedback!**


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